What Bird is That? Part 21

_Zonotrichia albicollis. Case 2. Figs. 45, 46; Case 4, Fig. 40_

The adults may be recognized at sight by their white throat, but this character is less prominent and sometimes almost wanting in young birds (Fig.

46) which will require close scrutiny. L. 6.

_Range._ Nests from northern New England and central Minnesota northward; winters from southern New England and Ohio to the Gulf.

Was.h.i.+ngton, very common W.V., abundant T.V., Mch.

18-May; Sept. 15-Dec. 16. Ossining, common T.V., Apl. 10-May 21; Sept. 20-Oct. 30; a few winter.

Cambridge, very common T.V., Apl. 25-May 15; Oct.

1-Nov. 10; a few winter. N. Ohio, common T.V., Apl. 1-May 21; Sept. 10-Nov. 7. Glen Ellyn, common T.V., Apl. 9-May 26; Sept. 13-Nov. 7. SE. Minn., common T.V., Apl. 8-; Sept. 2-Nov. 13.

This clear-voiced whistler is known to many persons who have never seen it. When anyone returning from the bird's summer range tells me "I heard a bird sing like this," I know before he whistles a note that he will probably imitate the White-throat. Fortunately the song has so much character and its intervals conform so closely to those of our musical scale, that a recognizable imitation of it is within the power of everyone. There is much variation in the arrangement of the notes and migrants never seem to sing with the power of nesting birds, nor do fall songs compare in volume or execution with those of spring. The call-note is a characteristic sharp _clink_.

The White-throat is abundant, migrating and wintering in companies which frequent bushy places, hedgerows and undergrowth generally. The nest is placed on the ground or in bushes in late May or early June. The eggs.

4-5 in number, are bluish white, speckled or blotched with brown.

TREE SPARROW

_Spizella monticola monticola. Case 2, Fig. 44; Case 4, Fig. 46_

A dusky spot in the center of the breast and a reddish brown cap and streak behind the eye are distinguis.h.i.+ng characters. L. 6.

_Range._ Nests in Canada; winters from southern Canada south to Arkansas and South Carolina.

Was.h.i.+ngton, abundant W.V., Oct.-Apl. 1. Ossining, common W.V., Oct. 10-Apl. 27. Cambridge, common W.V., abundant T.V., Oct. 25-Nov. 25; Mch. 20-Apl.

20. N. Ohio, abundant W.V., Oct. 24-May 3. Glen Ellyn, common W.V., Oct. 4-Apl. 28. SE. Minn., common T.V., Oct. 6-May 5; a few winter.

From October to April companies of Tree Sparrows harvest the season's crop of weed seeds, feeding usually near woods or hedge-rows to which they go to rest and roost. Their merry chatter is one of the season's most cheerful notes, and in the spring we may hear their canary-like song.

CHIPPING SPARROW

_Spizella pa.s.serina pa.s.serina. Case 4, Fig. 45; Case 5, Fig. 31_

In summer, the chestnut cap, black bill, and whitish line over the eye mark the 'Chippy'; but in the fall and winter the crown is like the back, the line over the eye is brownish, and the bill is brown; but the gray rump, shown well in flight, is a good character the year around. L. 5.

_Range._ Nests from Georgia and Mississippi to Canada; winters from South Carolina to the Gulf.

Was.h.i.+ngton, common S.R., abundant T.V., Mch.

9-Nov. 11, occasionally winters. Ossining, common S.R., Apl. 5-Nov. 7. Cambridge, abundant S.R., Apl. 12-Oct. 25. N. Ohio, abundant S.R., Mch.

23-Oct. 10. Glen Ellyn, not very common S.R., Apl.

5-Nov. 5. SE. Minn., common S.R., Apl. 8-Oct. 26.

The friendly Chippy is the most familiar and domestic of any of our native Sparrows. He makes tentative visits to our piazzas and, cats permitting, will take up his residence there, building a neat, hair-lined nest in the vines or a nearby bush. Una.s.suming in voice as he is in manner, his _Chippy-chippy-chippy_, many times repeated, expresses contentment, even if it does not attain high musical rank.

Madame Chippy has fine taste in eggs, laying, in early May, little blue gems, beautifully marked with brown or black.

CLAY-COLORED SPARROW

_Spizella pallida. Case 6, Fig. 48_

The Clay-colored Sparrow resembles a winter Chipping Sparrow, but is paler and has a white line over the eye and a brownish rump. L. 5.

_Range._ Interior states east to Illinois; winters from Texas southward. SE. Minn., common S.R., Apl.

26-Oct. 19.

A Chipping Sparrow of the Plains which nests on the ground and in low bushes. It is not common east of the Mississippi.

FIELD SPARROW

_Spizella pusilla pusilla. Case 4, Fig. 43; Case 5, Fig. 14_

The upperparts are brighter reddish brown than in any of our other Sparrows, and the bill is 'pinker.' L. 5.

_Range._ Nests from northern Florida and central Louisiana to Minnesota and Maine; winters from New Jersey and Illinois to the Gulf States.

Was.h.i.+ngton, very common P.R. Ossining, common S.R., Apl. 2-Nov. 7. Cambridge, common S.R., Apl.

12-Nov. 1; casual in winter. N. Ohio, abundant in summer, Mch. 6-Oct. 25. Glen Ellyn, tolerably common S.R., Mch. 27-Oct. 11. SE. Minn., common S.R., Apl. 1-Dec. 28.

'Bush Sparrow,' Mr. Roosevelt always called this bird, and the name gives a better conception of its haunts than that of Field Sparrow, since it is found in bush-grown fields. From a bush-top it sings its clearly whistled, sweet, appealing song, varying the relation of notes and trills, but never their musical quality. In a bush also it nests, laying 3-5 white eggs, marked with reddish brown, in May.

SLATE-COLORED JUNCO

_Junco hyemalis hyemalis. Case 2, Fig. 43; Case 4, Fig. 41_

The plumage of the female is tinged with brownish, but the prevailing tone is slate-gray, unlike that of any of our other Sparrows. The white outer-tail feathers are conspicuously flashed in flight. L.

6.

_Range._ Nests from northern New England and northern New York to Canada and southward in the mountains to Pennsylvania; winters in all the Eastern States. The Carolina Junco (_J. h.

carolinensis_), a slightly larger race without a brownish tinge, nests in the higher parts of the Alleghanies from Maryland to northern Georgia, descending to the adjacent lowlands in winter.

Was.h.i.+ngton, abundant W.V., Sept. 26-May 12.

Ossining, common W.V., Sept. 19-May 4. Cambridge, rather common W.V., abundant T.V., Sept. 20-Nov.

25; Mch. 20-Apl. 20. N. Ohio, abundant W.V., Oct.

2-May 5. Glen Ellyn, W.V., abundant spring and fall, Aug. 30-May 13, SE, Minn., common T.V., Mch.

4-; Sept. 20-Nov. 12.

Gray skies and a snow-covered earth are the Junco colors, and when he flashes them along the hedgerows and wood borders we know that although it is only late September, winter will soon be with us. From that time until April the Junco is of our commonest birds. He visits our food-shelf and roosts in our evergreens, becoming almost as domestic as the Chipping Sparrow. The Junco's call-notes are a sharp _tsip_, a contented _chew-chew-chew_, and a sharp kissing call. Its modest, musical little trill we shall not hear until spring. The nest is built on the ground, and the 4-5 white, speckled, or spotted, eggs are laid late in May.

BACHMAN'S SPARROW

_Peucaea aestivalis bachmani_

With a general resemblance to a Field Sparrow but bill black and larger, cheeks and underparts more buffy, tail shorter, no evident wing bars.