Sparrows
SONG-BIRDS.
Seaside Sparrow: Ammodramus maritimus.
- Length:
- 5.75-6.25 inches.
- Male and Female:
- Very dull brownish gray bird. Gray wash on shoulders and the edges of some feathers. Breast mottled gray with buff tinge. Throat yellow-white. Wings and tail dusky. Yellow spot before eye and yellow mark on edge of wing, the only bright colouring. Bill lead-coloured; dark feet.
- Song:
- Very similar to that of the last species.
- Season:
- Common summer resident, breeding on salt-marshes. Present December 9, 1889. Probably sometimes winters. (Averill.)
- Breeds:
- Through range.
- Nest and Eggs:
- Indistinguishable from last species.
- Range:
- Salt-marshes of the Atlantic coast, from Massachusetts south-ward, and along the Gulf coast to the Rio Grande.
One of our two common Sparrows that have a maritime tarn of mind, breeding freely about Fairfield and Stratford on the marshes. The two species are so closely associated that it is easy to confuse them; the Seaside Sparrow has the least definite colouring, no distinet black stripes on the back, and a blunt tail.
White-crowned Sparrow: Zonotrichia leucophrys.
- Length:
- 6.50-7 inches.
- Male and Female:
- White crown set between two black stripes; white eye stripes. Cheeks, throat, and back of neck gray. Below light gray; some buff on sides and belly. Wings edged with bay, and having two white cross-bars; tail plain. Female, head rusty, paler all through. Bill and feet reddish brown.
- Song:
- 6 or 7 notes, forming a plaintive cadence.
- Season:
- Rare migrant; October and May.
- Breeds:
- Chiefly in the Rocky Mountain region (including Sierra Nevada), and northeast to Labrador.
- Nest and Eggs:
- Not to be distinguished from those of the White-throated Sparrow.
- Range:
- North America at large.
One of the largest Sparrows, and also conspicuously marked, the White-crown is scarcely the inferior of the White-throat itself. It has a northerly range, and only
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