Meadowlark
The high, clear whistle of the Meadowlark, as he perches in a tree or stands erect on the ground, is a familiar bird-song of the early spring. His bright breast glows in the sunshine as he stands for an instant, then disappears altogether as he lowers his head and walks through the grass. Let him slip out of sight for a second, and it may be difficult to see him again, for he is protectively colored, the margins of the feathers of his back forming lines which resemble the dead grasses. As he flies, his wings beat in a muscular fashion and the white outer feathers of his short, widespread tail show plainly. If his nest is nearby, he may perch on a post and call with a rough chattering as he flashes his tail energetically.
The Meadowlark’s food habits are chiefly beneficial. It eats many grubs and cutworms, confining most of its foraging to the ground.
In the early fall, they sometimes congregate in great flocks, during the latter part of the period of moult. They do not usually sing at such times, but when the new plumage is complete, and the day warm, the whole flock may begin to sing, with remarkable effect.
Other Name.—Orchard Bird.
Description.—Smaller than Baltimore Oriole. Adult male: Head and neck, back, wings, and tail black, the greater coverts and secondaries edged with white; breast, belly, rump, upper tail-coverts and lesser coverts of wing, rich deep chestnut. Female: Olive-gray above; yellow on face, underparts and rump; wings with two whitish bars. The male in its first breeding plumage is like the female, but has a black throat-patch. Length: A little over 7 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A rather rare and exceedingly local species, found chiefly in the southern counties, but occasionally as far north as Crawford County in western Pennsylvania. It arrives in late April or early May and remains until September 15.
Nest.—A pouch of grass which is green when the nest is constructed, usually swung between upright twigs at the top of a small tree—rarely in a conifer. The nest is not so deep as that of a Baltimore Oriole and is never swung at the tip of a drooping branch, so far as I know.
Orchard Oriole, Male
The exceedingly bright and varied song of this species may puzzle the bird student who hears it for the first time. It is hardly deliberate enough to suggest an Oriole, but it is full-throated and tropical in fervor and decidedly noticeable. The flight is characteristic, giving the impression that the wings are never lifted above the back. Orchard Orioles are likely to nest in groups, several pairs in one neighborhood. They are so irregular in their occurrence that the bird student must watch assiduously for them.
Other Names.—Hang-bird; Hang-nest; Golden Robin.
Description.—Smaller than Robin. Adult male: Head, neck, back, wings, and tail, black; lesser coverts orange; tertials and greater coverts edged with white; outer tail-feathers tipped with orange or yellow; breast, belly, rump, and upper tail-coverts, bright orange, deepest on breast. Female: Olive-brown above, yellow below; breast somewhat tinged with orange; wings with two noticeable buffy yellow bars; tertials prominently edged with whitish. Immature birds are similar to the female. Eyes dark brown; bill and feet blue-gray. Length: 7½ inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—An abundant summer resident from latter April to early fall. It is not often seen in the fall as it usually leaves before the middle of September.
Nest.—A deep pouch of plant-fibers, horse-hair, and string, lined with soft materials, swung from the tip of a branch, usually of an elm, maple, or sycamore, 15 to 60 feet from the ground. Eggs: 4 to 6, white, scrawled with blackish, chiefly at larger end.
The male Oriole is one of our most gorgeous birds, with his bright colors and loud, assertive song. In the full-flowered apple trees, the dignified creature crawls about, nipping at buds or snatching up insects. The female builds the nest, and the young call for food incessantly, often attracting attention to it. Some of the Oriole’s call-notes and alarm-notes are exceedingly harsh and grating, calling to mind the tropics, their ancestral home.
Description.—Smaller than Robin. Adult male in spring: Entire plumage glossy blue-black; bill and feet black; eyes pale yellow. Adult female: Slate color, somewhat glossy above; wings and tail blackish. Adult male in winter: Black, all the feathers edged with buffy brown, the top of the head almost solid brownish. Young birds in their first winter plumage are chiefly responsible for the name of the bird. They are rusty brown, paler on head, richest on back, with slate-colored wings and tail, a dark line through the eye, and pale yellow eyes. Length: 9½ inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A fairly common and regular migrant, sometimes abundant, from early or mid-March (sometimes earlier) to early May and from September 10 to November 15. It usually occurs in flocks.
This is our blackest Blackbird in the spring; in the fall it is hardly a black bird at all. Look for this species in swampy situations or along the margins of streams. It likes to walk about on the ground and through water like a sandpiper, and is more terrestrial than the Red-wing. The spring flocks sometimes burst forth into song, and the effect at a distance is that of sleigh-bells—a jangling, jolly chorus. A single male’s efforts hardly merit being called a song. Rusty Blackbirds are grackle-like in actions, and their whitish eyes suggest grackles, but they do not have trough-shaped tails and the tail-feathers are about of equal length.
Other Names.—Blackbird; Crow Blackbird.
Description.—Males larger than Robin, with large tails, distinctly trough-shaped, especially in flight. The male Purple Grackle’s head and neck are brilliant, iridescent blue and violet; the body, which appears blackish at a distance, is glossed with blue, green, plum-color, and bronze, and the back and scapulars, and sometimes the sides, are crossed with iridescent bars. The male Bronzed Grackle’s head is iridescent greenish blue, with little or no violet reflection, and the body is rich, glossy bronze, without iridescent bars. In both these forms the females are similar but duller, and noticeably smaller. The eyes of all are pale yellow. Young birds are dull brown and, when quite young, have grayish eyes which turn to pale yellow as the bird grows older. Length: Male, 12 to 13½ inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—The Purple Grackle is found east of the Alleghany Mountains; the Bronzed Grackle occurs west of the Alleghanies. In the mountainous sections the forms intermingle to a certain extent. Grackles are abundant summer residents from mid-March to November.
Nest.—A large, amply cupped structure of grasses, weeds, and other materials, sometimes strengthened with mud, usually built in a coniferous tree, in a yard, or on a campus, from 20 to 60 feet from the ground, but also built in willows, in bridges, high buildings, and rarely among cat-tails. Eggs: 3 to 7, pale blue, gray, or whitish, scrawled and blotched with brown, black, and gray.
This is the bird which is everywhere called “Blackbird.” It is a bird of the town, not of the wilds, preferring to nest in parks, cemeteries, and college campuses, among the pines, spruces, or cedars. It eats many cutworms, but does some damage in grain-fields, and in destroying fruit.
Grackles walk sedately about the lawns, their white eyes gleaming with a ghostly brilliance. The call-note is a harsh tschack.
Purple Grackle
Description.—Smaller than Robin; beak very large and heavy. Male: Forehead, line over eye, scapulars, lower back and rump, sides of breast and belly, dull yellow; crown and most of wing brownish black; secondaries and their greater coverts white, a prominent field-mark; rest of plumage olive-brown. Female: Grayish, the back and scapulars faintly washed with olive-yellow; wings, tail, and upper tail-coverts considerably spotted and marked with white; tips of the inner webs of all the tail-feathers, white; bill pale yellowish gray. Length: 8 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A rare and irregular winter visitant, noted chiefly in the northern counties. In Pike and Tioga counties it has been noted with some regularity during the latter part of recent winters. It is usually to be seen in small flocks and it often occurs in towns.
Evening Grosbeaks see so little of man in their wilderness home in the Great Northwest that they are surprisingly unsuspicious when they visit us during the winter. They are sociable, almost always being seen in flocks, and they feed upon seeds of maple and other trees, upon frozen apples, and upon berries which they find, notably those of the mountain ash. Occasionally they visit the leafless shade trees of towns.
Pine Grosbeak
Evening Grosbeak
Description.—About the size of a Robin; a small bunch of bristling feathers over the nostrils; bill sparrow-like, but upper mandible somewhat curved like a parrot’s. Adult male: Gray, suffused with soft rose-red, principally on the crown, rump, upper tail-coverts, and breast; wings and tail dark brownish gray, the wings with two prominent white bars. Adult female: Gray, the crown, rump, upper tail-coverts, and breast more or less strongly suffused with yellowish or olive; the wings and tail as in the male. Immature males resemble the adult female, but are brighter. Length: 9 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A rare and irregular winter visitant recorded from many sections of the Commonwealth, but doubtless of most frequent occurrence in the more northerly counties.
The Pine Grosbeak has been well named. So fond is it of coniferous trees and the food it finds among the needles and buds that its bill is frequently covered with resinous substances. In Pennsylvania the bird also eats the berries of mountain ash, sumac, and similar plants. It is sometimes quite unsuspicious, being unacquainted with the ways of man, and will allow the observer to approach very closely. The call-note is a clear, bell-like whistle; its full song is rarely to be heard in this latitude. (See illustration, page 103.)
Purple Finch
Upper, Female; Lower, Male
Other Name.—Linnet.
Description.—Size and general proportions of English Sparrow; nostrils covered with small, bristly feathers; tail slightly forked. Adult male: Head and breast rosy pink, not purple, some of the feathers with dusky tips, and a darker streak through the eye; back brownish gray, streaked and suffused with rose-color; wings and tail brownish; belly whitish; sides somewhat streaked with brownish. Adult female: Very sparrow-like in appearance, in fact closely resembling a female English Sparrow, but the whitish underparts heavily streaked with dark brown. The immature male is much like the female, and this plumage is held through the first nesting season, the subsequent moult leading into the rose-red plumage of the full adult. Length: A little over 6 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A fairly common and regular migrant throughout, from mid-March to mid-May and from September 15 to October 31. As a summer resident it is found only in the northern and mountainous counties, and it is decidedly local as a nesting bird. It is irregular, though at times common, in winter.
Nest.—A neat structure, with wide, full cup, constructed of plant-stems and fibers, lined with finer materials, placed in a conifer, orchard tree, or sapling at from 20 to 40 feet from the ground. Eggs: 3 to 5, pale blue, wreathed about the larger end with spots and lines of black.
The lovely Purple Finch is all too little known. It occurs at some time during the year at every locality in Pennsylvania, yet it is not a familiar bird. The song alone should win it wide acclaim as a bird-neighbor, for, delivered from the top of a tree, or from a vine or weed, it is one of the brightest, most varied of our bird melodies and is given with such enthusiasm that we recognize in the singer a canary-like interest in prolonging the performance.
Purple Finches are often seen among the budding branches of a fruit tree, balancing on the slender twigs as they eat buds and capture occasional insects. The females are virtually silent, until they have cause to depart, then they swing off into the air, bound merrily higher and higher above the tree-tops, and make off as they call tik, tik in a characteristic tone. This important call-note should be remembered; it often serves to identify the species when the colors cannot be seen.
In its nesting-range, the song of this Finch is to be heard during all the spring and early summer days. At Pymatuning Swamp, restless males sang almost constantly while their mates assembled nesting materials. An ecstatic flight-song is frequently given when the bright male flutters high into the air and, still singing, descends on trembling wings to the twigs and new leaves.
The Purple Finch’s habit of eating buds and flowers of trees, including valuable orchard varieties, causes it to be unpopular when it is too common.
Description.—Size and general shape of English Sparrow, but mandibles sharply pointed and crossed. Adult male: Deep dull red, brightest on rump, browner on back; wings and tail brownish black. Female: Dull olive-green, yellowish on the rump; head and back indistinctly streaked with blackish; underparts mixed with whitish. Immature male: Like the female, with some red mixed in the plumage. Length: 6 inches.
Description.—Size and shape of English Sparrow. Male: Dull rose-pink, brightest on rump, more or less streaked with blackish on back; wings and tail black, the wings with two prominent white bars, the tertials sometimes tipped with white; belly and under tail-coverts whitish. Female: Dull grayish green, yellowish on the rump, grayish below, the wings, as in the male, with two prominent white bars. Immature male: Similar to the female, but mottled irregularly with pink. Length: 6 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—Both Crossbills are irregular winter visitors, sometimes abundant. They are usually found among coniferous trees. The Red Crossbill nests rarely in our higher mountains among the coniferous trees.
These two species are nearly always to be found together during winter, and in any plumage may be recognized by their wings, those of the White-winged species always having two wing-bars, those of the Red Crossbill never being marked. The Crossbills feed upon seeds of hemlock, pine, and spruce, which they secure by wrenching off the scales of the cones with their sharply pointed and crossed beaks.
Red Crossbill
White-winged Crossbill
Description.—Smaller than an English Sparrow; conical bill, sharply pointed; nostrils covered with tufts of bristling feathers. Adult male: Crown bright red; chin and upper throat blackish; neck and back grayish brown, streaked with buffy and whitish; rump grayish, tinged with pink; wings and tail dark brown, the wings with two white bars; breast and cheeks washed with delicate rosy pink; belly white; sides buffy streaked with blackish. Female: Similar, but more heavily streaked above and without pink on breast or rump. Length: 5 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A rare and irregular winter visitor from the Far North. It sometimes occurs during the entire winter, but it is usually seen during the latter part, and chiefly in the northern counties.
Redpoll
Redpolls, like Goldfinches, swing about through the air with strongly undulating flight. They give a rasping, querulous squeal as they lift their crests and watch us. The birds are fond of weed seeds which they pick up from the snow. Usually they sit with feathers considerably fluffed out, and at such times the rosy breast of the male is noticeable.
Other Names.—Salad Bird; Wild Canary; Thistle Bird; Yellow Bird.
Description.—Smaller than English Sparrow; bill sharply pointed. Adult male in summer: Bright lemon-yellow with black crown, wings, and tail, the wings crossed with two white bars, the lesser coverts yellow like the body, and the tail-feathers with their inner webs white; upper tail-coverts gray. Adult female in summer: Upperparts yellowish brown, the crown unmarked; below, dull yellowish; wings and tail more or less as in male, but not so black, nor so strikingly marked; lesser coverts dull olive-green. Adult male in winter: Like adult female, but lesser wing-coverts yellow; breast dull yellow; belly whitish; sides brownish. Young male in winter: Similar but the lesser wing-coverts are dull greenish or grayish. Young males in summer: Like the adult but the lesser coverts are dull greenish or grayish. Length: 5 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A common permanent resident, somewhat irregular in winter, and often not known as a winter bird because of the complete change of color and habits.
Nest.—A compact, neatly built cup of weed-stalks and vegetable fiber, lined with soft materials, placed from 3 to 30 feet from the ground, often in a shade tree, on a branch extending over the highway. Eggs: 3 to 6, pale blue.
Goldfinch
Female Male
The Goldfinch is comparatively unknown as a winter bird. With the change of color the birds become wilder in disposition, no longer frequent the lawns and roadsides, and band together in large flocks. In summer the brightly colored males are very noticeable as they swing about among the flowers in a field or perch on dandelions in the yard. They are brilliant singers, even in winter, and may be recognized at a great distance in the summer by the flight-song, which has been written per-chick-o-ree, and which is repeated with each bound of the deeply undulating flight.
This bird nests very late, eggs being laid in latter June and July. In spring they are sometimes considerably mottled in appearance, as the brown winter plumage drops out and is replaced by the yellow of summer. This prenuptial moult is usually complete by the middle of May, or earlier, and with the brighter plumage return all the familiar call-notes and graceful motions which we associate with these attractive birds.
Goldfinches are fond of sunflower and cosmos seed, and we may lure them to the garden, perhaps for the entire year, by planting such flowers as these regularly.
Other Name.—Pine Finch.
Description.—Smaller than English Sparrow; bill sharply pointed; a tuft of small feathers over nostril. Upperparts grayish brown streaked with black, the feathers margined with buffy; wing-feathers edged with yellowish and yellow at base; tail dark gray-brown, neatly forked, all but middle feathers yellow at base; underparts white, washed with buffy and heavily streaked with black. Length: 5 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A somewhat irregular migrant in April and May and in September and October; sometimes very common. Irregularly abundant in winter. It has been known to nest in the mountainous counties.
Pine Siskin
When winter flocks of these sociable finches visit Pennsylvania, the birds feed largely upon the seeds of hemlock and alder. Merrily they bound about through the air, giving their rough, querulous squeal. In looking for this bird, remember that the heavily streaked underparts and the yellow on the wings and tail are unmistakable. Siskins will sometimes be found feeding among the alders, not far from the ground. They often wander about with flocks of Goldfinches.
Other Names.—Sparrow; House Sparrow.
Description.—Male: Chin and throat black; crown gray; cheeks whitish; back of head, neck, and back reddish brown, the back streaked with black; a prominent white wing-bar; underparts grayish white; wings and tail dull brown. Female: Grayish brown, with an indistinct wing-bar, a darker line through the eye, and a rather distinct superciliary line. Length: About 6 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—An abundant permanent resident, principally in the towns and on the farms.
Nest.—A bulky mass of dry grasses, usually domed over and lined warmly with feathers, placed in crevices in buildings, in bird-houses, in cavities in trees, and rather rarely on a branch of a tree. Eggs: 4 to 6, white, spotted with gray.
The amateur bird student may do well to fix definitely in his mind the size and appearance of this abundant bird, since it is advisable to know these when making the acquaintance of other bird friends, and especially when studying the rather difficult sparrow group.
English Sparrows are not altogether objectionable. During summer they prey upon almost all kinds of insects, including the hard-shelled and disagreeably scented insects which many birds pass by. Nevertheless, we regret that these birds are so abundant because of their tendency toward driving out some of our more beautiful native birds.
Other Names.—Snowflake; Snow Bird.
Description.—A little larger than an English Sparrow. Male in winter: Upperparts dull reddish brown, darkest on the crown; feathers of back with partly concealed black bases, causing a streaked effect; outer primaries black, white at base; secondaries white; middle tail-feathers black, outer ones white; underparts white. Female: Similar, but duller, and with primaries all dark brown, and white secondaries somewhat tipped with dusky. Length: 6¾ inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A rare and irregular winter visitant, save at Erie, where it is fairly regular and sometimes common on the outer beaches from November to early March. It is occasionally seen in small flocks in other northern counties.
A single Snow Bunting in flight might suggest to the bird student an albinistic sparrow of some sort, but a whole flock of the remarkably colored creatures, as they swing over a dead weed-field, can but bring the instantaneous thrill which a glimpse of such exotic creatures always brings. Snow Buntings are usually seen in flocks, often in company with Horned Larks or Tree Sparrows, their companions in the North Country, and they have a jovial twitter.
The Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus lapponicus) occurs rarely during early spring or late fall migration, or in winter. It is about the size of an English Sparrow, and in winter has a concealed reddish patch on the neck, a concealed blackish belly, and is to be seen in fields where it sometimes associates with Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, or Tree Sparrows.
Other Names.—Grass Finch; Grass or Ground Sparrow; Bay-winged Bunting; Road Sparrow.
Description.—Size of English Sparrow. General appearance grayish above, lighter below, considerably streaked above and on breast and sides; outer tail-feathers white; lesser wing-coverts reddish brown, not particularly conspicuous save at close range. Length: 6 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A common summer resident from early April to late October. It is not found in woodlands.
Nest.—A cup in the ground, in an open field, lined with grasses, hair, and other fine material. Eggs: 3 to 5, white, spotted and scrawled, chiefly at larger end, with blackish.
Savannah Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
The Vesper Sparrow is not very easily recognized by its appearance alone, as it stands on the ground or on a fence-post, but if the bird student will remember that this species is always found in the open, never at great distance from the ground, and that the white outer tail-feathers always show in flight, identification should be easy. The bright song is given with great enthusiasm, often in a remarkably beautiful evening chorus. At the beginning of this song we usually hear two accented descending whistles which stand out more prominently than any other portion of the warbling performance. Look for Vesper Sparrows along fields and roadsides in country districts.
Description.—Smaller than English Sparrow. General appearance above, gray, considerably streaked, and with white underparts considerably streaked on breast and sides with black; line above eye pale yellow, not noticeable in field save at close range in ideal light; a blotch of blackish in middle of breast. Length: 5½ inches
Range in Pennsylvania.—A fairly common but not often recorded migrant, and a local and sometimes common summer resident, particularly in the central and northern counties, from early April to mid-October.
Nest.—A depression in the ground, in an open field, lined with grasses and other soft material. Eggs: 4 to 6, pale bluish or bluish green, irregularly and sometimes heavily spotted with brown.
Look for the Savannah Sparrow in spring and summer only in wide, open fields where the grass is short. Here a slight, buzzing, trilling song may be heard from a sparrow which is prominently streaked below, and which has much the appearance of a Song Sparrow, but does not bob its tail as it flies, nor seek cover in bushes. If the bird student will remember that this species is to be found only in wide fields, usually when there are no bushes, and that there are no prominently white outer tail-feathers, as in the Vesper Sparrow, he may find this little-known bird fairly common in his region. In fall it is found in weed-patches along roads or in bushy fields. (See illustration, page 109.)
Other Names.—Yellow-winged Sparrow; Yellow-winged Bunting.
Description.—Smaller than English Sparrow. Tail-feathers rather short and pointed. Adult male: General color buffy brown, the upperparts streaked with black and margined with whitish, in characteristic pattern; bend of the wing yellow (this mark usually not evident in the field); forepart of superciliary line yellow, noticeable in good light in the field. Female: Similar, but duller. Length: 5½ inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A rather local summer resident throughout, from late April or early May to September 15. It is found only in more or less flat, wide meadows, not usually in marshy places, and never in woodlands.
Nest.—A depression in the ground beneath a clump of grass, lined with fine, dry grasses. Eggs: 4 or 5, white, spotted, chiefly around the larger end, with reddish brown.
Here is a bird which will more than likely pass unnoticed unless the fine, insect-like song is heard. Some bird students never realize that this species nests in their region, for they never hear this song, and they have not the patience to trail about after every little brown bird they see. The Grasshopper Sparrow’s song is dry, unmusical, and buzzing, and it seems a fitting accompaniment to hot midsummer fields which are covered with dust and upgrown with coarse weeds. The bird is almost never seen, save while it is singing from the top of a weed or from a fence-post. On the ground it disappears almost at once, for its colors are highly protective. The flight is fluttering and somewhat erratic. If the bird flushes from the grass, it usually does not alight near at hand, but zigzags to a far corner of the field and drops into the grass.
Grasshopper Sparrow
Henslow’s Sparrow
The smaller Henslow’s Sparrow (Nemospiza henslowii susurrans) has a greenish cast over the head and neck. This retiring, unmusical little bird occurs in Pennsylvania as a very rare and exceedingly local summer resident. Its ludicrously short song, chis-lick, is to be listened for in low meadows where the grass is thick and deep. Additional records of this species are very desirable.
The Nelson’s Sparrow (Ammospiza caudacuta nelsoni) occurs at Erie as a migrant, particularly in the fall.
Description.—One of the larger sparrows, being larger than an English Sparrow. Adult male: Crown white, with two broad black streaks along either side and a blackish streak through eye; rest of upperparts grayish brown, considerably streaked; underparts clear light gray, palest on throat and belly, and somewhat brownish on sides. Adult female: Similar, but duller. Immature: Similar, but crown buffy and brown, and underparts more buffy. Length: A little under 7 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A regular and fairly common migrant throughout from latter April to May 20 and from October 1 to 20.
The large size and noticeable markings of this sparrow make it comparatively easy to identify. It is not often so common as its near and similar relative, the White-throated Sparrow, from which it differs in having no yellow before the eye or on the bend of the wing, and no white throat-patch. The song of the White-crowned Sparrow is composed of soft, rich whistles which have a plaintive character, similar to that of the well-known White-throat’s peabody song, with an additional rough undertone between the first and latter parts of the song. The White-crown, while in Pennsylvania, nearly always occurs in flocks, usually in the woodlands, in brush-piles, or along hedges. Remember that a bird with a white crown need not necessarily be this species, for the White-throat also has such a crown; but the plain gray throat of the White-crown is usually easy to detect in the field, since the birds are not wild. All members of the sparrow tribe are seed eaters.
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Other Name.—Peabody-bird.
Description.—A little larger than an English Sparrow; similar in general appearance to the White-crowned Sparrow. Adult male: Crown white, marked laterally with two black bands which extend backward to nape; forepart of superciliary line yellow; rest of upperparts rich brown, streaked with black and margined with grayish; bend of wing yellow, not usually noticeable in field; chin and throat pure white, in contrast with gray of breast; belly whitish; sides washed with brownish. Female and young: Similar but duller. Length: 6½ inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A regular and abundant migrant throughout, from mid-April to May 20 and from September 15 to November 1.
The clear, fragile whistle of the White-throat is one of our most beautiful bird-notes, and is a familiar song of the spring woodlands. It has been written as sweet, sweet, peabody, peabody, peabody. The white throat and yellow spot in front of the eye must be looked for in this species. A trained observer can recognize the White-throat easily by its characteristic, rather metallic, call-note, but the beginner had best depend on the markings of the bird which are easy to note. Sometimes these birds are common about lawns in towns.
Description.—About as long as, but slenderer than, an English Sparrow; tail longer proportionately than an English Sparrow’s. Crown-patch bright rufous; rest of upperparts brownish gray, streaked with black and reddish brown; wing with two noticeable white wing bars; underparts brownish gray, whitish on chin and throat, and in middle of belly; a dusky spot in center of breast. Female: Similar but duller. Bill yellow with dusky tip. Length: About 6 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A winter visitant from the Far North, arriving in October and remaining until late March or April.
The Tree Sparrow is a bird of weedy fields and hedges. In flocks they search for seeds which have fallen upon the snow. When the winter sun shines they call in companionable and softly musical notes. In spring the Tree Sparrow has a gay, somewhat warbler-like song, which I believe is not very well known among our bird students. The Tree, Field, and Chipping Sparrows are similar in appearance. Identification of these birds should not be difficult, however, if one remembers that the Tree Sparrow is a winter bird, while the Field and Chipping Sparrows usually arrive in spring after the Tree Sparrows have returned north. If by some chance the three sparrows do occur together, remember the black spot in the breast of the Tree Sparrow and the yellowish bill, field-marks which the other two species do not have.
Tree Sparrow
Other Name.—Chippy.
Description.—A small, slender Sparrow, noticeably smaller than the English Sparrow. Male: Crown bright reddish brown; forepart of crown and line through eye black; line above eye whitish; rest of upperparts grayish brown, streaked with black; chin and throat white; rest of underparts grayish; bill black. Female: Similar, but duller. In winter both sexes are similar but they are much more streaked, particularly on the crown. Length: Under 5½ inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—An abundant summer resident from early April to mid-October.
Nest.—A neat cup made of fine weed-stalks and grasses, lined almost invariably with horse-hair, and placed in a low bush or rose vine, or sometimes at some distance from the ground in an evergreen tree. Eggs: 3 or 4, delicate blue, wreathed about the larger end with black spots and scrawls.
Field Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Look for the Chippy, as a rule, only near houses or farms. It is not a bird of the wilds, and because of its confiding disposition has come to be associated with our very doorsteps. The monotonous, though cheerful, chipping song of this bird is familiar to all who listen for bird-calls. So rapidly are the chips of its song given that it is almost impossible to imitate it. Remember the black bill and unmarked underparts of the Chipping Sparrow.
Description.—Size small; this is one of our slenderest, smallest sparrows. Male: Crown-patch rufous; upperparts grayish brown, streaked with black and rufous; wings with two prominent white wing-bars; underparts whitish, unmarked; bill pink. Female: Similar but duller. Young: Similar but somewhat more streaked. Length: 5½ inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—An abundant summer resident from early April to mid-October, and occasionally later.
Nest.—A neat cup made of fine grasses and slender weed-stalks, lined usually with finer grasses and, as a rule, not with hair, placed on the ground among weeds or in a low, thick bush in a pasture or field. Eggs: 3 to 5, bluish white, spotted with reddish brown.
The clear, whistled trill of the Field Sparrow is a welcome promise of spring, as the bird, just returned from the south, sings in the brown fields. This song is often but a simple repetition of the same note, becoming more rapid toward the end and running into a sort of trill.
This bird is rather shy, and in flying away gives us a rather unsatisfactory glimpse of fairly long tail and grayish rump. If we look carefully at the little creature with a glass, we note the white wing-bars, the dark eye which is surrounded with a grayish ring, and the pink bill. (See illustration, page 113.)
Other Names.—Snow-bird; Junco.
Description.—About the size of an English Sparrow, but with a longer tail. Male: Head, neck, breast, and upperparts slaty gray, sometimes brownish on the wings and back, the outer tail-feathers pure white, always showing in flight; bill pink, narrowly tipped with dusky. Female and young: Similar, but duller and often browner. Length: A little over 6 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—Best known as a winter visitant from October 1 to about the first of May, or later; rather rare and local as a summer resident in the higher mountains.
Nest.—A cup of fine grasses, built in a bank in woodlands. Eggs: 3 to 5, white, spotted with brown.
Slate-colored Junco
The Junco is easy to recognize anywhere, because the dark plumage of its back contrasts so startlingly with the white outer tail-feathers. Its song is not so easy to recognize, however, being a rather musical chipping song, resembling that of the Chipping Sparrow, but more deliberately given. Juncos do not often sing during the winter, but with return of spring they trill in the sunlit corners of the woods where they feed upon weed-seeds. Nesting records of the Junco in Pennsylvania are desirable.
Other Name.—Ground Sparrow.
Description.—About the size of an English Sparrow, but with relatively longer tail; sexes similar. Above, rich brown streaked with grayish and black; a rather distinct gray superciliary, and a buffy streak back from lower mandible; underparts white, heavily streaked with black, especially on breast and sides; a blotch in the center of the breast. Length: A little over 6 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—In much of Pennsylvania the Song Sparrow is abundant the year round; it is migratory, however, to an extent, and summer-resident individuals may be replaced during winter by birds from farther north.
Nest.—A neat cup built of grasses, lined with finer materials, and usually with rather bulky foundation, built on the ground in a sheltered situation or in a low bush. Eggs: 3 to 6, greenish or grayish white, rather heavily spotted with brown.
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
The Song Sparrow’s heavily streaked underparts will distinguish it from all other sparrows, save the rare Lincoln’s Sparrow, the Savannah Sparrow, which is found only in wide, open fields, the Fox Sparrow, whose tail is bright reddish brown, and the female Purple Finch. Look for Song Sparrows along brooks among the bushes. As the brown birds fly away, their rounded tails pump rather regularly.
The song is bright and varied, with usually two or three accented, repeated notes which give it a syncopated rhythm, and is generally delivered from the topmost twig of a bush or low tree.
Lincoln’s Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii lincolnii) is a little-known migrant in May and September, which may be far commoner than is supposed. It looks much like the Song Sparrow but has a buffy area across the chest and the streaking of the underparts is finer. Look for this species along the brushy margins of streams. The song, which is a remarkably sprightly, gurgling performance, is quite unlike that of any other sparrow which I have heard.
Bachman’s Sparrow (Peucæa æstivalis bachmani) is a very rare summer resident, known from southern counties only. This species looks like a Song Sparrow but it has no streaks on the underparts. It is found on brushy hillsides.
Description.—A little smaller than an English Sparrow, with the proportions of a Song Sparrow. Male in summer: Crown rich reddish brown; rest of head gray, a black line through the eye, and a buffy streak extending backward from the lower mandible; back reddish brown streaked with black, the feathers margined with grayish; no wing-bars; underparts grayish, the sides washed with olive-brown. Female: Similar, but duller. Male in winter: Somewhat streaked crown-patch and duller in general appearance. Length: A little under 6 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A migrant in latter April and May and in September and October; in the northern counties and at higher altitudes, locally, it occurs as a summer resident, nesting where there are suitable marshes.
Nest.—Of grasses, with bulky foundation and neat cup, usually placed a few inches from the ground or above water, in a clump of weeds or in cat-tails. Eggs: 3 to 5, pale blue, blotched and spotted irregularly with brown.
Look for the Swamp Sparrow, as a rule, only in marshy country. The gray, unstreaked underparts, the red-brown crown-patch, and a shy, furtive manner characterize this species. Its song, which is usually delivered from a cat-tail or high weed-stalk, but often from a hidden spot among the weeds, is somewhat like a Chipping Sparrow’s, with the chips given much more slowly and loudly. (See illustration, page 115.)
Description.—Larger than an English Sparrow. Male: Rich, warm brown on crown and back, these regions somewhat streaked; superciliary line and neck gray; ear-coverts brown; slight wing-bars; rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail bright reddish brown, very noticeable in the field, particularly when the bird is in flight; underparts white; breast and sides heavily streaked with black. Female: Similar, but duller. Length: A little over 7 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A common and regular migrant from mid-March (sometimes earlier) to April 20, and from early October to November 15. It is one of the earliest of the spring migrants.