Over and over he uttered his three little notes accompanied 
by twistings of his throat and shoulders until a passer-by 
gave him a new lease of life by making him fly away. 
Of the migrant sparrows that return to the Northwest 
from the South, none are more’ attractive than the White- 
crowned Sparrows. They come winging their way in the 
last weeks of March or the first of April. We waken some 
morning and hear the plaintive little song which may be 
worded: “De-ar! De-ar.” I’m glad to be he-re!” resounding 
in every neighborhood which provides a bush-pile, or a 
_ tangle which a bird can mount. As this bird is next to the 
house sparrow in abundance, it will be easily found and 
o readily recognized by its brownish-gray coloring and the 
black and white stripes running m pe tudiually from bill to 
~ nape of neck. 
These are two varieties of the eastern white-crowned 
sparrows in this region; the Gambel Sparrow is plentiful or 
_ the eastern side of the Cascades, where he is seen in large 
numbers during migration about Pullman College and other 
observation stations, while the Nuttall Sparrow is one of the 
commonest summer birds on the coast. Dawson and Bowles 
in Birds of Washington is authority for the statement that 
- no skins of Gambel Sparrow had been taken west of the 
Cascades. These sparrows have sometimes been called the 
American Nightingale from their habit of singing at night. 
Those who know the clear plaintive little song may be thrilled 
at almost any hour of the night during the spring months 
by its song. Mr. Charles W. Scarf of Seattle, has written 
g of the Nuttall os tae be | 
“OU in the silent watches of the hoki. 
When lights burn low, 
-T hear the pattering rain | 
Beat soft against the vine- draped Windowpane 
And as I sit and doze, contented quite, 
Before the open fire’s mellow light, 
26 
