Page:Birdcraft-1897.djvu/234

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SONG-BIRDS.
Sparrows


comes to us as a very restless migrant in middle autumn and late spring, when it is occasionally seen feeding with Juncos and White-throats.

White-throated Sparrow: Zonotrichia albicollis.

Plate 26. Fig. 2.

Length: 6.50-7 inches.
Male and Female: A plump, handsome bird. White throat and crown stripes. Backstriped with black, bay, and whitish. Rump light olive-brown. Bay edgings to wings, and two white cross-bars; under parts gray. Yellow spot before eye. Female crown, brown, markings less distinct.
Song: Sweet and plaintive, - "Pee-a-peabody, peabody, peabody !" Season: Abundant migrant; also a winter resident from September to May.
Breeds: From New England and the Norther States northward.
Nest: A deep grass nest partly sunken in the ground or in a low bush.
Eggs: Variable, greenish, and thinly speckled with reddish brown to gray, blotched heavily with chocolate.
Range: Eastern North America west to the Plains, north to Labrador and the Fur Countries, and winters from the Middle States southward.

This is unquestionably the most beautiful of all the Spar-rows, not excepting the great Fox Sparrow, and its rich velvety markings and sweet voice have made it one of the welcome migrants, and the few that remain through the winter are carefully fed and cherished.

The past season (1894) the upward migration began early in March, the 7, being the first day that I noticed a de cided movement, and then no more large flocks appeared until the first week of May. A flock settled on a bit of ground newly sown with grass seed, and devoted themselves to it with such zest that at the end of three days every seed had found its way into their little stomachs; however, as the ground was near the piazza it gave me a fine opportunity to

watch them. and four quarts of grass seed was a small price to pay for their society.

The White-throat's song has been expressed in many different syllables. It certainly says, "Pee-a-peabody, pea-

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