304 FINCHES, sraunows, are.

of the song which will apply throughout the bird‘s range. However, an average song consists of the syllables cliEr-N'Eé, c/Iér—wéé, Mir-wee, ('llt7I’-ll't7(’., c/iEE-o, de-de-de-de-de, the lust notes joined in a trill.

This gives, of course, no idea of the quality of the Field Sparrow's song, but to be convinced of its rare beauty one need only hear it as the sun goes down and the hush of early evening is quieting the earth.

The “'nsrzim Finn) SPARROW (50:211. hpizilla pusz‘lla arenacea) has been recorded from the vicinity of New Orleans.

567. Junco hyemalis (13751111.). .li'Ni'o; Sxownmn. Ad. 5,—Upper parts, throat. and breast grayish slatc»e«,\lor; upper parts more or less washed with grayish brown; belly white, sides grayish; no wing—bars; tail fuseous, the two outer feathers and part ofthe third white: bill flesh-color. Ad. Q .— b'imilar, but the upper parts browner, throat and breast paler. Young in first plumage resemble the adults, but have the upper parts, throat, and breast streaked with black. L, (5'27; W., 3'03, T., 2'71 ; 1%., '41.

lemma—North America; breeds from northern Minnesota and northern New York northward and southward along the summits ot‘ the Alleghunies to Virginia; winters southward t0 the Gult‘ States.

Washington, abundant W. \'., Oct. 5 to Apt. 25. Sing Sing, common \V. V., Sept. 1:! to May 4. Cambridge, rather common W. \’., abundant T. V., Sept. 2!) to Nov. 25; Meh. 20 to Apl. 20.

Nest, of grasses, moss, and rootlets, lined with fine grasses and long hairs, on or near the ground. [ill/178, four to five, white or bluish white. finely and evenly speckled or spotted. sometimes heavily bletehed. at the larger end

with rufousibrown. '78 x '55.

When the snow begins to fly you will look out some gray morning to find a flock of small, plump, slate-colored birds hopping about the dooryard. picking up what they can find. or sitting in the bushes with an air of contentment that it is pleasant to see.

Coming. as they do, when most of the home birds have left for the south. they bring their own welcome. and soon seem like old friends. But if you would really know your gentle winter visitors, you must go back into the woods when summer comes and find them in their own homes.

Look for them in a tangle of fallen tree-tops. logs. and upturned roots. A pair I once surprised in such a place at first sat and chirped at rue—with bills full of food—but soon they were flying freely back and forth to the upturned root where they had hidden their nest.

l noticed with surprise that. their gray plumage toned in so well with the dark earth that they were hard to see. The sharp horizontal line across the breast where the gray turns abruptly to white added to the disguise, the straight line breaking the round form of the bird.

The ’15:"); of the Juneo is unmistakable and more often heard than