44
W H I T E - T H R O A T E D SPARROW.
and especially by our different kinds of Squirrels, all of which shew great
partiality to them. Its flowers, although so interesting in early spring,
are destitute of odour, and of short duration. The bark is used by the
inhabitants in decoction as a remedy for intermittent fevers, and the
berries are employed by the housewife for dyeing black.
FRINGILLA PENNSYLVANICA, Lath, Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 445.—Ch. Bonaparte,
Synopsis of Birds of the United Slates, p. 108.
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, FRINGILLA ALBICOLLIS, Wils. Americ. Ornith. vol. iii.
p. 5 1 , PI. xxxi. fig. 5 . Male.
WHITE-THROATED FINCH, Lath. Synops. vol. iii. p. 4 4 3 .
Adult Male. Plate VIII. Fig. 1.
Bill short, robust, conical, acute; upper mandible broader than the
lower, scarcely decimate at the tip, almost straight in its dorsal outline,
as is the lower, both being rounded on the sides, and the lower with inflected,
acute edges; the gap line nearly straight, a little deflected at the
base, and not extending to beneath the eye. Nostrils basal, roundish,
open, partially concealed by the feathers. Head rather large. Neck
shortish. Body robust. Legs of moderate length, slender; tarsus longer
than the middle toe, covered anteriorly with a few longish scutella; toes
scutellate above, free, the lateral ones nearly equal; claws slender, arched,
compressed, acute, that of the hind toe rather large.
Plumage compact above, soft and blended beneath. Wings short
and curved, rounded, the third and fourth quills longest, the first much
shorter, the secondaries long. Tail longish, forked, the lateral feathers
curved outwards towards the tip.
Upper mandible dark brown, its edges and the lower mandible light
blue. Iris hazel. Feet flesh-coloured, claws light brown. Upper part
of the head black, with a narrow white stripe from the forehead to the
upper part of the neck. A broader white stripe, anteriorly passing into
bright orange, over each eye, margined by a narrow black stripe extending
from the eye down the neck. Upper part of the back, and the lesser
wing-coverts, bright bay, variegated with black; lower back and tailcoverts
brownish-grey. Quills and large coverts blackish, margined with
bay, the latter, as well as the next series, tipped with white, forming two
conspicuous bands on the wing. Tail dusky brown. Throat white;
W H I T E - T H R O A T E D SPARROW. 45
sides and fore-part of the neck and breast bluish-grey; the rest of the
under parts greyish-white.
Length 6£ inches, extent of wings 9 ; bill / g along the ridge, 1
7
g along
the gap ; tarsus 1 | , middle toe 1.
Adult Female. Plate VIII. Fig. 2.
In the female, the colours are similarly arranged, but much duller, the
bright bay of the male being changed into reddish-brown, the black into
dark brown, and the white into greyish-white. The white streak above
the eye is narrower, shorter, and anteriorly less yellow, the greyish-blue
of the breast paler, and the white spot on the throat less defined.
Length 6{ inches, extent of wings 8£; bill £ along the ridge, £ along
the gap.
DOG-WOOD.
CORNUS FLORIDA, Willd. Sp. Plant, vol. i. p. 6 6 1 . Michaux, Abr. Forest, de l'Amer.
Sept. t. iii. p. 138, PI. iii. Pursh, Flora Americ. p. 108.—TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA,
Linn. CAPRIFOLIA, JUSS.
A beautiful small tree, generally about twenty feet in height, with
very hard wood; dark grey bark, cracked into squarish compartments;
ovate-elliptical, acuminate leaves, which are light green above, whitish
beneath; large, obcordate involucral leaves; and bright-red oval berries.