Part 32

Spizella passerina passerina. 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. 5-1/2.

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

Washington, 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. Unassuming 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. 5-1/2.

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. 5-1/2.

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

Washington, 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. 6-1/4.

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.

Washington, 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

Peucæa æstivalis 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.

Range. Southeastern United States from central Georgia to Virginia and from northwestern Florida to central Illinois; winters from North Carolina to northern Florida.

Where 'scrub' oaks grow beneath the pines, or post, or white oaks form open woods, there one may look for this rather retiring, sweet-voiced Sparrow. If one can imagine a Hermit Thrush singing the Field Sparrow's chant, he will have some conception of the rare quality of Bachman's Sparrow's song. The nest is built on the ground, the white unmarked eggs being laid early in May.

The Pine Woods Sparrow (P. æ. æstivalis), is a darker race, more streaked above with black. It is resident in Florida (except the northwestern part) and southern Georgia where it frequents pine forests undergrown with scrub palmetto.