NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS
Family FRINGILLIDÆ.—The Finches. (Continued.)
Genus SPIZELLA, Bonap
Spizella, Bonap. Geog. and Comp. List, 1838. (Type, Fringilla canadensis, Lath.)
Spinites, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 133. (Type, Fringilla socialis, Wils.)
Spizella monticola.
871 ♂
Gen. Char. Bill conical, the outlines slightly curved; the lower mandible decidedly larger than the upper; the commissure gently sinuated; the roof of the mouth not knobbed. Feet slender; tarsus rather longer than the middle toe; the hinder toe a little longer than the outer lateral, which slightly exceeds the inner; the outer claw reaching the base of the middle one, and half as long as its toe. Claws moderately curved. Tertiaries and secondaries nearly equal; wing somewhat pointed, reaching not quite to the middle of the tail. First quill a little shorter than the second and equal to the fifth; third longest. Tail rather long, moderately forked, and divaricated at the tip; the feathers rather narrow. Back streaked; rump and beneath immaculate. Young streaked beneath.
This genus differs from Zonotrichia principally in the smaller size and longer and forked, instead of rounded tail.
Birds of the year of this genus are very difficult to distinguish, even by size, except in monticola. The more immature birds are also very closely related. In these the entire absence of streaks on a plumbeous head point to atrigularis; the same character in a reddish cap, and a reddish upper mandible to pusilla; a dusky loral spot with dark streaks and generally a rufous shade on top of head, to socialis. S. breweri, with a streaked head, lacks the dusky lore and chestnut shade of feathers. S. pallida generally has a median light stripe in the cap, and a dusky mandibular line.
Common Characters. Interscapular region with black streaks. Rump and lower parts without streaks (except in young). Wing with two narrow light bands (indistinct in atrigularis).
A. Crown different from the sides of the head, a plain light superciliary stripe. Young with crown and breast streaked.
a. Crown rufous and plain in adult; in young, grayish and with streaks.
I. Streak behind eye, and tinge on side of breast, rufous. Egg pale blue, or bluish-white, blotched with pale brown, or sprinkled with reddish
1. S. monticola. Crown bright rufous, undivided medially; a dusky spot on lore; wing-bands sharply defined, pure white. A black spot on breast; jugulum tinged with ashy. Bill black above, yellow below. Length, 6.25; wing, 3.00. Hab. Whole of North America; north of the United States only, in summer.
2. S. pusilla. Crown dull rufous, indistinctly divided medially; lores entirely whitish; wing-bands not sharply defined, pale brown. No black spot on breast; jugulum tinged with buff. Bill entirely light brownish-red.
Wing, 2.70; tail, 2.80; bill, from forehead, .37. Hab. Eastern Province United States … var. pusilla.
“Similar, but colors clearer, and bill more robust.” Hab. Peten, Guatemala … var. pinetorum.1
II. Streak behind the eye blackish. No rufous tinge on side of breast. Egg deep blue, with black dots and streaks round larger end
3. S. socialis. Crown bright rufous, not distinctly divided, generally plain. Forehead black, divided medially with white. Streak of black on lore and behind eye. Rump pure bluish-ash. Bill blackish, lower mandible paler.
Auriculars deep ash, in strong contrast with pure white of the superciliary stripe and throat; breast without ashy tinge. Dorsal streaks broad. Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.30. Hab. Eastern Province of United States … var. socialis.
Auriculars lighter ash, less strongly contrasted with the white above and below; breast strongly tinged with ash. Dorsal streaks narrow. Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.90. Hab. Western Province of United States, and table-lands of Mexico … var. arizonæ.
b. Crown light grayish-brown, with distinct black streaks; young differing in streaked. Egg deep blue, with black streaks and dots (precisely as in socialis).
4. S. pallida.
Crown divided medially by a distinct pale stripe; whitish superciliary stripe, and blackish post-ocular streak sharply defined. A dusky sub-maxillary streak. Nape ashy in contrast with the crown and back. Wing, 2.50; tail, 2.40. Hab. Plains of United States, from the Saskatchewan southward … var. pallida.
Crown without a distinct median stripe. Markings on side of head not sharply defined. No dusky sub-maxillary stripe, and nape scarcely different from crown and back. Wing, 2.50; tail, 2.60. Hab. Middle and western Provinces … var. breweri.
B. Crown not different from the sides of head; no light superciliary stripe.
5. S. atrigularis. Head and neck all round, and rump, uniform dark ash, gradually fading into white on the abdomen; wing-bands indistinct; bill light brownish-red. Ad. Lores, chin, and upper part of throat black. Juv. without black about the head. (Eggs unknown.) Hab. Adjacent portions of Mexico and southern Middle Province of United States (Fort Whipple, Arizona, Coues; Cape St. Lucas, Xantus).
Spizella monticola, Baird
TREE SPARROW
Fringilla monticola, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 912. Zonotrichia monticola, Gray, Genera. Spinites monticolus, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 134. Spizella monticola, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 472.—Coues, P. A. N. S. 1861, 224 (Labrador).—Cooper & Suckley, 203 (Washington Ter.).—Dall & Bannister, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 285.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 206.—Samuels, 317. Passer canadensis, Brisson, Orn. III, 1760, 102. Fringilla canadensis, Lath. Index, I, 1790, 434.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 511; V, 504, pl. clxxxviii.—Max. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 280. Emberiza canadensis, Sw. F. B. Am. II, 1831, 252.—Aud. Syn. 1839.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 83, pl. clxvi. Spizella canadensis, Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 480. Fringilla arborea, Wils. Am. Orn. II, 1810, 12, pl. xii, f. 3. Moineau du Canada, Buffon, Pl. Enl. 223, f. 2. “Mountain Finch,” Lath. Syn. II, I, 265.
Spizella monticola.
Sp. Char. Middle of back with the feathers dark brown centrally, then rufous, and edged with pale fulvous (sometimes with whitish). Hood and upper part of nape continuous chestnut; a line of the same from behind the eye, as well as a short maxillary stripe. Sides of head and neck ashy. A broad light superciliary band. Beneath whitish, tinged with fulvous; the throat with ashy; a small circular blotch of brownish in the middle of the upper part of the breast; the sides chestnut. Edges of tail-feathers, primary quills, and two bands across the tips of the secondaries, white. Tertiaries nearly black; edged externally with rufous, turning to white near the tips. Lower jaw yellow; upper black. Young bird streaked on throat and breast, as well as on crown. Length, 6.25 inches; wing, 3.00.
Hab. Eastern North America to the Missouri, north to Arctic Ocean; also on Pole Creek and Little Colorado River, New Mexico; Western Nevada.
This species varies in the amount of whitish edging to the quills and tail.
Habits. Essentially a northern bird, the Tree Sparrow breeds in high Arctic regions, only appearing in winter within the United States. It is then common as far south as Pennsylvania. A few winter in South Carolina.
It arrives on the Saskatchewan in the latter part of April, where it only makes a short halt, proceeding farther north to breed. Bischoff obtained a specimen at Sitka. Mr. Kennicott found its nest and eggs on the Yukon, and Mr. Dall obtained it at Nulato, and more sparingly below that point. Mr. MacFarlane met with it breeding in large numbers at Fort Anderson. The nests were in various situations, the larger proportion on the ground, a few in bushes near the ground, and only one is mentioned as having been several feet above it. One was in the cleft of a low willow on the edge of a small lake; another, in a bush, was nearly four feet from the ground; and a third was in a clump of willows and fourteen inches above the ground. Nearly all the other nests mentioned were built directly upon the ground.
The nests were constructed of dry bark and grasses, loosely put together, and very warmly lined with feathers. On the ground they were usually concealed in a tuft of grass. In all instances the female alone was found on the nests, the male being very rarely seen in their vicinity. The usual number of eggs in a nest was four or five, occasionally six, and even seven.
Dr. Suckley obtained a single specimen at Fort Dalles, and Dr. Cooper saw a flock in September, 1863, and again in 1864 at the mouth of the Columbia. Lieutenant Bryan met with them among the Rocky Mountains in latitude 39°, in August. Mr. Ridgway found them very common during the winter in the interior.
Dr. Coues found this Sparrow common in all the wooded districts of Labrador. It was very tame and unsuspicious, showing no fear even when closely approached. I have never met with any, in summer, in any part of New Brunswick or Nova Scotia.
This Sparrow is occasionally abundant in Massachusetts early in October, but rarely appears in full numbers until November. Some remain in the gardens in and about Boston during the winter, and during November the marshes of Fresh Pond are filled with them, when their wailing autumnal chant is in marked contrast with the sweet and sprightly song with which they enliven the spring, just before they are about to depart for their summer homes. They remain until the latter part of April, and Mr. Allen has observed them at Springfield till about the first of May.
In regard to their song, Mr. William Brewster informs me that they usually commence singing about the 25th of March. Their song is a loud, clear, and powerful chant, starting with two high notes, then falling rapidly, and ending with a low, sweet warble. He has heard a few singing with their full vigor in November and December, but this is rare.
Dr. Coues found them not common in South Carolina, but Dr. Kennerly states that they were quite abundant in December on the Little Colorado, in New Mexico, feeding on the fruit of the wild grape and upon seeds.
During the love-season the Tree Sparrow is quite a fine musician, its song resembling that of the Canary, but finer, sweeter, and not so loud. In their migrations, Mr. Audubon states, a flock of twenty or more will perch upon the same tree, and join in a delightful chorus. Their flight is elevated and graceful, and in waving undulations. On opening the stomachs of those he shot at the Magdeleine Islands, Mr. Audubon found them containing minute shell-fish, coleopterous insects, hard seeds, berries, and grains of sand.
Nests obtained near Fort Anderson confirm the descriptions given by Mr. Hutchins, as observed in the settlement at Hudson’s Bay. The eggs, which are much larger than those of the other species of Spizella, measure .85 by .65 of an inch. Their ground-color is a light green, over which the eggs are very generally freckled with minute markings of a foxy brown. These markings are distributed with great regularity, but so sparsely as to leave the ground distinctly visible.
Spizella pusilla, Bonap
FIELD SPARROW
Fringilla pusilla, Wilson, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 121, pl. xvi, f. 2.—Licht. Verzeich. Doubl. 1823, No. 252.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 299, pl. cxxxix. Spizella pusilla, Bonap. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 480.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 473.—Samuels, 319. Emberiza pusilla, Aud. Syn. 1839, 104.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 77, pl. clxiv. Spinites pusillus, Cab. Mus. Hein. 1851, 133. Fringilla juncorum, Nutt. Man. I, 1832, 499 (2d ed.,) 1840, 577 (supposed by him to be Motacilla juncorum, Gmelin, I, 952; Sylvia juncorum, Latham, Ind. II, 511; Little Brown Sparrow, Catesby, Car. I, 35).
Sp. Char. Bill red. Crown continuous rufous-red, with a faint indication of an ashy central stripe, and ashy nuchal collar. Back somewhat similar, with shaft-streaks of blackish. Sides of head and neck (including a superciliary stripe) ashy. Ear-coverts rufous. Beneath white, tinged with yellowish anteriorly. Tail-feathers and quills faintly edged with white. Two whitish bands across the wing-coverts. Autumnal specimens more rufous. Length about 5.75; wing, 2.34.
Hab. Eastern North America to the Missouri River; San Antonio, Texas in winter (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 489).
This species is about the size of S. socialis, but is more rufous above; lacks the black forehead and eye stripe; has chestnut ears, instead of ash; has the bill red, instead of black; lacks the clear ash of the rump; has a longer tail, etc. It is more like monticola, but is much smaller; lacks the spot on the breast, and the predominance of white on the wings, etc. The young have the breast and sides streaked, and the crown slightly so.
Habits. The common Field Sparrow occupies a well-defined and somewhat compact area, being resident within the United States, and in its migrations not removing far from its summer abode. In the summer it breeds from Virginia to Maine, as far as the central and western portions. It is not found near Calais, but occurs and breeds near Norway, Oxford County. In the interior it is found still farther north, in Canada, Iowa, and Wisconsin, to the Red River settlements, where it was found breeding by Donald Gunn. At Hamilton, Ontario, Mr. McIlwraith states it to be a rather rare summer resident. It breeds in Southern Wisconsin and in Iowa, but is not abundant. It does not appear to have been found west of the Missouri Valley.
This Sparrow arrives in Massachusetts early in April, and is found almost exclusively in open pastures, old fields, and in clearings remote from villages. It is a shy, retiring bird, and seems to avoid the near presence of man. Wilson states that it has no song, nothing but a kind of chirruping, not much superior to the chirping of a cricket. But this is quite a mistake, as it is in reality a very varied and fine singer. Its notes are not very powerful, and cannot be heard any distance, but they are very pleasing, although little known or appreciated. It continues in full song until into July, when the second brood is about hatching, when its notes relax, but do not cease until just before its departure in September or early October.
Mr. D. D. Hughes, of Grand Rapids, Mich., in an interesting paper on the habits of this species, speaks of its beautiful tinkling song as one of its most marked features. To his ear it resembles the ringing of a tiny bell more nearly than anything else. In the early morning and at evening the fields ring with their plaintive and tender peals. It sings at all hours of the day, during the nesting-season, even in the noonday heat of summer, when most other birds are silent.
In Virginia these birds may be found throughout the year, though probably not the same birds in the same localities, some retiring farther south and others coming to take their places from the north. In winter they are found, in the greatest abundance in South Carolina and Georgia, occurring in large loose flocks, found chiefly along the roadsides and in old fields and pastures in the rural districts.
The Field Sparrow nests both on the ground and in low bushes, or among tangled clusters of vines. I have found their nests in all these situations, and have no doubt the nature of the surface may have something to do with the position. In high dry pastures, in sheltered situations, I have always found their nests on the ground. In the wet meadows and fields subject to a rise of water, as about the Potomac, near Washington, where these birds are very abundant, they almost invariably nest in bushes at a height of two or three feet.
Mr. Audubon says that during the winter these birds are quite common throughout Louisiana, and the country about the Mississippi, as far as Kentucky. They begin to depart from the South early in March, and move slowly northward as the season advances. He states that they begin to nest in May, and raise three broods in a season. This is not the case in New England, where they do not often have more than a single brood.
PLATE XXVII.
1. Spizella socialis, Ad., Pa., 10150.
2. Spizella pusilla. ♀ Pa., 1378.
3. Spizella pallida. Ad.
4. Spizella breweri. Ad., Rocky Mts., 2890.
5. Spizella monticola.
6. Melospiza melodia,. Pa., 2637.
7. Melospiza samuelis. Cal., 7098.
8. Melospiza insignis. Kodiak, 52477.
9. Melospiza heermanni. ♂ Sierra Nevada, 53529.
10. Melospiza fallax. ♀ Nevada, 53537.
11. Melospiza rufina. Sitka, 46007.
12. Melospiza guttata. Washington Ter.
13. Melospiza lincolni. Pa., 937.
Their nests are constructed in a manner very similar to those of the Chipping Sparrow, loosely made of a few stems of vegetables, grasses, and sedges, and lined with hair or fine rootlets. Those placed on the ground are larger and more bulky, and those wrought into the twigs of a bush are made with more care and neatness of interweaving. The eggs are usually five in number, of an oblong-oval shape. The ground is a whitish clay-color, marked more or less fully with blotches of a ferruginous-brown. In some these markings are few, and arranged only about the larger end. In others they are generally diffused, and impart a deep ferruginous color to the whole egg, and disguise or conceal the ground. They vary also in size,—in length from .70 to .63 of an inch, and in breadth from .52 to .50. Their usual size is .70 by .52.
Two nests of this bird taken in Lynn, Mass., by Mr. George O. Welch, are characteristic of their usual style in architecture. One of these has a diameter of four and a height of two and a half inches. Its base, as well as the great mass of its periphery, is made of a very loose intertwining of minute stems of vegetables and dry grasses. The ends of these project from the exterior of the nest at the upper rim, and present a very peculiar appearance, as of an enclosure of palisades. The interior is lined with horsehair. The other is made of similar materials, of a less rigid character and closer texture. Its rim presents the same peculiarities of projecting ends, arranged like a fence above the nest itself. Its dimensions also are about the same. It is, however, much more compactly constructed, with thicker walls and a less open network of dry grasses, and stiff wiry stems of dried plants intermixed with a few pine leaves. The whole is very carefully and warmly lined with horsehair and the softer fur of small quadrupeds. These nests contained, one three, and the other four eggs.
Spizella socialis, Bonap
CHIPPING SPARROW; CHIPPY
Fringilla socialis, Wilson, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 127, pl. xvi, f. 5.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 21; V, 517, pl. civ. Spizella socialis, Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 480.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 473.—Cooper & Suckley, 203.—Samuels, 320. Emberiza socialis, Aud. Syn. 1839.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 80, pl. clxv. Spinites socialis, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 133.
Sp. Char. Rump, back of neck, and sides of neck and head, ashy. Interscapular region with black streaks, margined with pale rufous. Crown continuous and uniform chestnut. Forehead black, separated in the middle by white. A white streak over the eye to nape, and a black one from the base of the bill through and behind the eye. Lores dusky. Under parts unspotted whitish, tinged with ashy on the sides and across the upper breast. Tail-feathers and primaries edged with paler, not white. Two narrow white bands across the wing-coverts. Bill black. Length, 5.75; wing, nearly 3.00; tail, 2.50 (or less).
Young. Immature birds and frequently the adult females with the cap streaked with blackish lines, the chestnut nearly or sometimes quite wanting. Birds of the year streaked beneath and on rump.
The color of bill varies; sometimes entirely black throughout, sometimes very light (but never reddish as in S. pusilla), with all intermediate stages. There is usually, however, a dusky tinge in the upper bill, wanting in pusilla, and the lores are almost always more or less dusky in all stages of plumage.
Hab. Eastern Province of North America; north to Great Slave Lake, and south to Orizaba, Eastern Mexico, where it is resident. Oaxaca (perhaps var. arizonæ), Jan. (Scl. 858, 304); Xalapa (Scl. 1859, 365); Cordova (Scl. 1856, 305); Cuba (Lawr. 1860, VII., 1269).
Habits. The common Chipping Sparrow, so familiar to all in the eastern portion of the United States, is not only one of the most abundant, but one of the most widely distributed of our North American birds. It is found from the Atlantic to the Pacific in its two races, and breeds from Georgia to the Arctic Circle. At different seasons of the year it is found in all portions of North America to Mexico. Along the Atlantic coast it nests at least as far north as New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; in the extreme northern portion of the latter Province I found it one of the most abundant birds.
The late Mr. Robert Kennicott met with them in considerable numbers at Fort Resolution, on Great Slave Lake, and there he obtained quite a number of their nests, all of which were in trees or bushes, from two to three feet above the ground. These were all met with between the 1st and the 26th of June. Mr. B. R Ross also met with these birds in considerable numbers at Fort Simpson and at Fort Rae.
On the Pacific coast the Chipping Sparrow is stated by Dr. Cooper to be quite as abundant in the northern parts of California, and in Oregon and Washington Territory, as on the Atlantic coast. He found them wintering in the Colorado Valley in large numbers, but met with none about San Diego. They spend their summers in the northern part of California, building their nests, as with us, in the shrubbery of the gardens, and coming familiarly about the doorsteps to pick up crumbs. In autumn they collect in large flocks, and frequent the open fields and pastures. Dr. Cooper found them in flocks on Catalina Island in June, but could discover no nests. They were all old birds, and the conclusion was that they had delayed their more northern migrations.
Dr. Suckley found this species extremely abundant in the open districts on the Columbia River, as well as upon the gravelly prairies of the Puget Sound district. It is not named as having been met with by Mr. Dall or any of the Russian Telegraph party in Alaska.
It was found in abundance during the summer by Mr. Ridgway in all the wooded portions of the country of the Great Basin. He did not meet with any among the cottonwoods of the river-valleys, its favorite haunts appearing to be the cedars and the nut-pines of the mountains. In July and August, in such localities, on the East Humboldt Mountains, it was not only the most numerous species, but also very abundant, nesting in the trees. About the middle of August they congregated in large numbers, preparing for their departure.
At Sacramento it was also very abundant among the groves of small oaks. He could not observe the slightest difference in habits or notes between the eastern and the western specimens of this form. He found them breeding at Salt Lake City, June 19, the nest being in a scrub-oak, six feet from the ground.
In Arizona, Dr. Coues found the Chippy a very abundant summer resident, arriving the third week of March and remaining until the latter part of November. A few may spend the winter there. As described, it seems more gregarious than it is with us, arriving in the spring, and remaining for a month or more in large flocks of fifty or upwards. In New England they always come in pairs, and only assemble in flocks just on the eve of their departure. Mr. Dresser met with these Sparrows, and obtained specimens of them, near San Antonio, on the 10th of April. Dr. Heermann, in his Report upon the birds observed in Lieutenant Williamson’s route between the 32d and 35th parallels, speaks of finding this species abundant.
Dr. Gerhardt found this Sparrow not uncommon in the northern portions of Georgia, where it is resident throughout the year, and where a few remain in the summer to breed. Dr. Coues also states that a limited number summer in the vicinity of Columbia, S. C., but that their number is insignificant compared with those wintering there between October and April. They collect in large flocks on their arrival, and remain in companies of hundreds or more.
Mr. Sumichrast states that it is a resident bird in the temperate region of Vera Cruz, Mexico, where it remains throughout the year, and breeds as freely and commonly as it does within the United States.
Although found throughout the country in greater or less numbers, they are noticeably not common in the more recent settlements of the West, as on the unsettled prairies of Illinois and Iowa. Mr. Allen found them quite rare in both States, excepting only about the older settlements. As early as the first week in April, 1868, I noticed these birds very common and familiar in the streets of St. Louis, especially so in the business part of that city, along the wharves and near the grain-stores, seeking their food on the ground with a confidence and fearlessness quite unusual to it in such situations.
The tameness and sociability of this bird surpass that of any of the birds I have ever met with in New England, and are only equalled by similar traits manifested by the Snowbird (J. hyemalis) in Pictou. Those that live about our dwellings in rural situations, and have been treated kindly, visit our doorsteps, and even enter the houses, with the greatest familiarity and trust. They will learn to distinguish their friends, alight at their feet, call for their accustomed food, and pick it up when thrown to them, without the slightest signs of fear. One pair which, summer after summer, had built their nest in a fir-tree near my door, became so accustomed to be fed that they would clamor for their food if they were any morning forgotten. One of these birds, the female, from coming down to the ground to be fed with crumbs, soon learned to take them on the flat branch of the fir near her nest, and at last to feed from my hand, and afterwards from that of other members of the family. Her mate, all the while, was comparatively shy and distrustful, and could not be induced to receive his food from us or to eat in our presence.
This Sparrow is also quite social, keeping on good terms and delighting to associate with other species. Since the introduction of the European House Sparrow into Boston, I have repeatedly noticed it associating with them in the most friendly relations, feeding with them, flying up with them when disturbed, and imitating all their movements.
The Chipping Sparrow has very slight claims to be regarded as one of our song-birds. Its note of complaint or uneasiness is a simple chip, and its song, at its best, is but a monotonous repetition of a single note, sounding like the rapid striking together of two small pebbles. In the bright days of June this unpretending ditty is kept up incessantly, hours at a time, with only rare intermissions.
The nest of this bird is always in trees or bushes. I have in no instance known of its being built on the ground. Even at the Arctic regions, where so many of our tree-builders vary from this custom to nest on the ground, no exceptional cases are reported in regard to it, all its nests being upon trees or in bushes. These are somewhat rudely built, often so loosely that they may readily be seen through. Externally they are made of coarse stems of grasses and vegetable branches, and lined with the hair of the larger animals.
These birds are devoted parents, and express great solicitude whenever their nests are approached or meddled with. They feed their young almost exclusively with the larvæ of insects, especially with young caterpillars. When in neighborhoods infested with the destructive canker-worm, they will feed their young with this pest in incredible numbers, and seek them from a considerable distance. Living in a district exempt from this scourge, yet but shortly removed from them, in the summer of 1869, I noticed one of these Sparrows with its mouth filled with something which inconvenienced it to carry. It alighted on the gravel walk to adjust its load, and passed on to its nest, leaving two canker-worms behind it, which, if not thus detected, would have introduced this nuisance into an orchard that had previously escaped, showing that though friends to those afflicted they are dangerous to their neighbors. This Sparrow is also the frequent nurse of the Cow Blackbird, rearing its young to the destruction of its own, and tending them with exemplary fidelity.
Their eggs, five in number, are of an oblong-oval shape, and vary greatly in size. They are of a bluish-green color, and are sparingly spotted about the larger end with markings of umber, purple, and dark blackish-brown, intermingled with lighter shadings of faint purple. The largest specimen I have ever noticed of this egg, found in the Capitol Grounds, Washington, measures .80 by .58 of an inch; and the smallest, from Varrell’s Station, Ga., measures .60 by .50. Their average measurement is about .70 by .54. They are all much pointed at the smaller end.
Spizella socialis, var. arizonæ, Coues
WESTERN CHIPPING SPARROW
Spizella socialis, var. arizonæ, Coues, P. A. N. S. 1866.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 207.
Sp. Char. Similar to socialis, but tail and wing longer, the bill narrower, and colors paler and grayer. Rufous of the crown lighter and less purplish, generally (always in specimens from southern Rocky Mountains) with fine black streaks on the posterior part. Ash of the cheeks paler, throwing the white of the superciliary stripe and throat into less contrast. Black streaks of the back narrower, and without the rufous along their edges, merely streaking a plain light brownish-gray ground-color. A strong ashy shade over the breast, not seen in socialis; wing-bands more purely white. Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.80; bill, .36 from forehead, by .18 deep. (40,813 ♂, April 24, Fort Whipple, Ariz., Dr. Coues.)
Hab. Western United States from Rocky Mountains to the Pacific; south in winter into Middle and Western Mexico.