SPARROW, the familiar name of many small birds of the finch family (Fringillide), applied loosely to the representatives of a large and varied assemblage of genera. Generally speaking, sparrows are moderate-sized members of the family which live mostly on or near the ground, whose bills are neither especially short and stout nor angulated in the gape, and which have the sexes similarly colored. About 10 genera and 40 species called sparrows belong to the North American faunas of which the fol lowing may be mentioned. The white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is about seven inches long, the body stout, and the tail rather long and moderately rounded; the chin, throat and breast are nearly uniform ashy; the head above black; median and superciliary stripe pure white; a narrow black line through and behind the eyes; back and wing-coverts dark reddish brown with paler margins; quills and tail darker; wings with two white bands; whitish below; bill reddish orange tipped with brown. It is found from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains and from Labrador to Texas, breeding to the north and in the Rocky Moun tains. The notes are mellow and sweet, six or seven in number, the first loud and clear, and then becoming fainter and more plaintive; eggs light green with brownish mottlings at the larger end. The nest is on the ground or among moss, and the eggs are laid in Labrador from the 1st to the end of June. The flight is low and swift; the migrations are performed mostly by day; the food consists of seeds, berries and insects. It spends its summers in northern Canada and Alaska. The white throated sparrow or Peabody bird (Z. albicollis) has the chin abruptly white; superciliary stripe broad, yellow anteriorly and white behind; median head-stripe white, with a black one on each side, and a broad black streak behind the eye; edge of wing and axillaries yellow; two narrow white bands across wing coverts. It is found in the eastern United States and westward to the Missouri, appearing in the Southern States in November and departing in March to the North. It breeds from the north ern tier of States northward, and its nest, eggs and song resemble those of the last mentioned. This species is very active among hedges and thickets, and is found in flocks with the white crowned sparrow, than which it is generally more plentiful. These, with two or three addi
tional western species of Zonotrichia, are among the largest and most handsome of our sparrows.
The genus Spizella, which differs from the last in its smaller size and longer forked tail, contains three well-known northern species and as many more confined to the western and southern United States. The field sparrow (S. pusilla) is about five and one-half inches long; the bill is reddish; ear coverts, crown and back rufous, the last with blackish streaks; sides of head and neck, and stripe over eyes, ashy; white below, tinged with yellow anteriorly; quills and tail faintly edged with white, and two bands of the same across wing coverts ; rump yellow ish brown. It is found in eastern North America as far as the Missouri, remaining in the Southern States during winter, going north in March, and arriving in New England toward the last of April. The song is pleasing, re sembling the trill of a young canary. It is sociable and peaceful, and very prolific, some times raising three broods a year. The nest is of grasses and placed on or near the ground; the eggs usually four or five, whitish, thickly speckled with reddish brown. It frequents fields and fence rows, and flocks when not breeding. The chipping-sparrow (q.v.) and tree-sparrow belong here. The genus Pas serella is remarkable for the elongation of the lateral toes and the large size of the claws, adapting these birds for scratching on the ground. The fox-colored sparrow (P. iliaca), with its several varieties, is our only repre sentative. It is seven inches long, the back is rust brown, margined with ashy, lighter on the head, tail and wing coverts, rufous on the last two; white below, streaked with light brown ish red on breast and sides of neck, rufous patch on cheeks. It is found as far west as the Mississippi, preferring the Northern States and going south in winter. It is seen in small flocks in the underwood and along brier-skirted fences and streams. It breeds in British America. The flight is slow, rapid and undulat ing; the song clear, full, sweet and prolonged with many repetitions. The nest is made on the ground or in bushes.