1)0 W H I T E - C R O W N E D S P A R R O W .
meter externally, 2 in depth, 2\ in diameter within, although rather oblong,
and 11 deep. In one nest we found a single feather of the Willow
Grous. The eggs, five in number, average | of an inch in length, are
proportionally broad, of a light sea-green colour, mottled toward the
larger end with brownish spots and blotches, a few spots of a lighter tint
being dispersed over the whole. This description differs greatly from
that of the nest and eggs of this species given by others, who, I apprehend,
have mistaken for them those of the Fox-tailed Sparrow, or the
Anthus Spinoletta. We found many nests, which were all placed on the
ground, or among the moss, and were all constructed alike. They deposit
their eggs from the beginning to the end of June. In the beginning of
August, I saw many young that were able to fly, and by the 12th of that
month the birds had already commenced their southward migration. The
young follow their parents until nearly full grown.
The food of this species, while in Labrador, consists of small coleopterous
insects, grass seeds, and a variety of berries, as well as some minute
shell-fish, for which they frequently search the margins of ponds or
the sea-shore. At the approach of autumn, they pursue insects on the
wing, to a short distance, and doubtless secure some in that manner.
The song of the White-crowned Finch consists of six or seven notes,
the first of which is loud, clear, and musical, although of a plaintive nature
; the next broader, less firm, and seeming merely a second to the first;
the rest form a cadence diminishing in power to the last note, which
sounds as if the final effort of the musician. These notes are repeated at
short intervals during the whole day, even on those dismal days produced
by the thick fogs of the country where it breeds, and where this species
is of all the most abundant. The White-throated Finch was also very
plentiful, and we found it breeding in the same localities.
The flight of this interesting bird is usually low, swift, and greatly protracted.
It is performed without any jerk of the tail. They migrate
mostly by day—I say mostly, because while crossing a great arm of the
sea, like the Gulf of St Lawrence, they perhaps may not always be able
to accomplish their transit in one day.
I have met with this bird in almost every portion of the United States
during early spring and autumn, but always either single or in very small
groups. I have shot some near New Orleans in April, at Cincinnati, and
near New York in May. They reach the Magdeleine Islands, Newfoundland,
and the coast of Labrador, about the first of June. Those which I
W H I T E - C R O W N E D S P A R R O W . ()1
have seen on their passage through the United States were perfectly silent,
and usually frequented low bushes and grape vines, the fruit of which
they eagerly eat, but never entering the woods. In every instance I found
them as gentle and unsuspicious as whilst at Labrador.
In the plate are to be seen two of these birds, drawn many years ago,
one of them a male in full summer plumage, the other a female in the
winter dress. I have no doubt that this species retires far south in Mexico,
to spend the winter. It is nearly allied to the White-throated and
Fox-tailed Sparrows, and in its winter plumage it may perhaps prove to
be the Fringilla ambigua of my friend NUTTALL.
F R I N G I L L A L E U C O P H R Y S , Clu Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States,
p. 107 Nuttall, Manual, p. 479.
E M B E R I Z A L E U C O P H R Y S , Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 874.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i.
p. 413.
W H I T E - C R O W N E D B U N T I N G , E M B E R I Z A L E U C O P H R Y S , Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. iv.
p. 49. pL 3 1 . fig. 4. Male.
Adult male. Plate CXIV. Fig. 1.
Bill very short, robust, conical, acute; upper mandible scarcely broader
than the lower, both almost straight in their outline, rounded on the sides,
with the edges inflected and sharp; the gap line very slightly deflected
at the base, and not extending to beneath the eye. Nostrils basal,
roundish, partially concealed by the feathers. Head rather large, neck
short, body full. Legs of moderate length, rather strong ; 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 soft and rather blended above, loose beneath. Wings short
and curved, rounded, the third quill longest, the second and fourth almost
as long. Tail rather long, nearly even, of twelve rounded feathers.
Bill reddish-orange, tipped with brown. Iris reddish-brown. Feet
pale brown. The head is marked with three stripes of white, and four of
deep black. Back and wing-coverts dark reddish-brown, with pale grey
margins, the posterior part of the back and upper tail-coverts lighter
brown. Quills and tail dark brown, margined with pale ; the tip of the
smaller coverts white, as are those of some of the primary coverts, which,
with the secondary quills, have chestnut-brown edges. Throat and belly