An Introduction to the Birds of Pennsylvania

by George Miksch Sutton

THE SMALL FLYCATCHERS

The bird student will find the shy, dull-colored, small flycatchers difficult to identify. All forms of the group found regularly in Pennsylvania, aside from the Phœbe and Pewee, are dull olive-green or grayish above, lighter or whitish below, have a more or less noticeable eye-ring and two noticeable wing-bars. These small flycatchers are so similar in size and color that it is at times almost impossible to distinguish specimens in the hand. But they are reasonably easy to identify in the field, chiefly from their call-notes which are very distinctive, from their habitat which differs considerably, and from the dates upon which they are seen. They are all under 6 inches in length. All of these birds have an erect perching attitude; none of them, strictly speaking, sings a song; all are equipped with broad, flat bills, for capturing insects.

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher Alder Flycatcher

YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER
Empidonax flaviventris (W. M. and S. F. Baird)

The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher is a migrant in mid-spring and early autumn, not found during summer, save at one or two high altitudes, where it nests rarely. It is always rather noticeably yellow below and is found in low, thick woodlands, not often far from the ground. The call-note is a nervous tsek, or chuh-bec, its song a querulous tsu-eek, with a rising inflection. In fall immature birds are sometimes exceedingly abundant.

ACADIAN FLYCATCHER
Empidonax virescens (Vieillot)

This flycatcher lives in shadowy woodlands along ravines where long, swaying branches of beech, maple, or hemlock overhang a stream. Here, not at great height, is built the shallow, thin nest, where three eggs are laid. These are creamy white, spotted with dark brown at the larger end. The call of this bird may be written pit-i-yuk or wee-zee-eep, and is of an explosive character. Do not look for this bird save in woodlands along streams. It will not be found in swamps, or in orchards. It comes in early May and stays until mid-September and occurs chiefly in the southern and less mountainous counties.

ALDER FLYCATCHER
Empidonax traillii traillii (Audubon)

The Alder Flycatcher will be seen in low growth along streams or in swamps, often actually among alders. Its sides are yellowish, but the belly is always white. The song of this species, which is usually delivered from a prominent and sometimes high perch, may be written becky-weer, and is different from any other flycatcher song, save, perhaps that of the Olive-sided. Its nest is a compact structure, built in the alders, 2 to 3 feet from the ground, usually in a swamp. The three or four eggs are white, sparsely spotted with brown. The Alder Flycatcher is found chiefly in the more northerly counties as a summer resident, from early May to September.

LEAST FLYCATCHER; CHEBEC
Empidonax minimus (W. M. and S. F. Baird)

The Least Flycatcher is a bird of open aspen copses or orchards. Its energetic che-bec, which is given with a violent toss of the head, is always characteristic and is responsible for its common name. Look for the bird during migration in May and in September. As a summer resident it occurs chiefly in the more northern counties, where it builds its deep nest in the crotch of some low tree. The eggs, 3 or 4 in number, are pure white. Feathers are often used in the nest, which is made of vegetable fiber and hair.

HORNED LARK
Otocoris alpestris alpestris (Linnæus)

This northern relative of our Prairie Horned Lark visits Pennsylvania occasionally in winter, especially in the northern counties. It is a larger, more reddish bird, and the line above the eye is distinctly yellow, sometimes quite colorful.

PRAIRIE HORNED LARK
Otocoris alpestris praticola Henshaw

Other Name.—Shore Lark.

Description.—Larger than an English Sparrow; a bird of the ground, with straight toe-nails, the hind one very long. Adult male: Patch on forepart of crown with lateral lines leading to two tiny tufts or horns on nape, patch in front of and below eye, and another on upper breast, black; forehead and line above eye whitish, sometimes very faintly tinged with yellow; throat pale yellow; back of head and upperparts pale grayish brown mixed with reddish brown on neck, back, and wings; middle tail-feathers brown, the other feathers blackish, the outer vanes of the outer feathers white; lower breast and belly whitish, suffused with pinkish brown on sides and flanks; bill, feet, and eyes black. Female and immature: Similar, but duller. Young birds in their first plumage are much spotted, with pale yellowish above, and with blackish below. Length: A little over 7 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—Local permanent resident, sometimes quite common, and found only in the opener sections, on bald hilltops or in wide fields in agricultural districts.

Nest.—A cup in the ground lined with grasses, plant-down, and other vegetable material. Eggs: 3 to 5, greenish white, heavily marked with grayish brown, sometimes with a wreath of heavier spots around larger end. The nest is always placed in a wide-open field, sometimes on a bare hilltop. It is built very early in the season, sometimes in early or mid-March, while snow is still on the ground.

Prairie Horned Lark

In the windy, open fields or on treeless hilltops, this demure and dull-colored bird lives. As he walks or runs among the short grass, twittering in a companionable way, standing still for a moment to survey his surroundings, then wandering off again, little is noted to remind us of the glorious courtship song which this bird of the ground gives during early spring, and for which he should be as famous as the English Skylark. Mounting upward from the clods, he finally reaches a far height, where he pours out his melodious, tinkling music, minute after minute, sweeping about in wide circles, or steadily flying into the wind. Thirty or forty times he may give his song, then becoming tired of his performance, downward he drops to the earth in long, graceful sweeps to alight unconcernedly. He sometimes sings from the ground or from a fence-post.

Horned Larks are given to flocking together in the winter, and when snow covers the ground they sometimes come into the farmyards, or congregate along roads, where they eat horse-manure or waste grain. Look for the black facial markings of these plain brown birds, and remember that they will be found only in open country.

BLUE JAY
Cyanocitta cristata bromia Oberholser

Description.—Larger than Robin; sexes similar, both with prominent crest; nostril covered with tuft of feathers. Head, crest, and back grayish blue; forehead and a noticeable collar across lower throat, ear-coverts, and back of crest, black; region about eye whitish; throat and underparts grayish white, darkest on sides; wings and tail bright turquoise-blue, the greater coverts, secondaries, and tertials tipped broadly with white, and all of the feathers barred strikingly with black on their exposed surface; tail-feathers barred with black, the outer ones tipped noticeably with white; feet and bill black; eyes dark brown. Length: About 12 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—We should expect the Blue Jay to be a permanent resident in Pennsylvania wherever it is found. It occurs the year round, notably in the southwestern and southern counties, and is usually a summer resident and early spring and mid-fall migrant from March 20 to November 1; as a summer bird it is somewhat local in distribution.

Nest.—A bulky mass of twigs, rootlets, and weed-stalks, rather well made and neatly cupped, placed from 10 to 30 feet from the ground, usually in a more or less open situation and often in a conifer. Eggs: 3 to 6, pale gray green or greenish gray, heavily marked with dull and indefinite brown and gray spots.

Blue Jay

The Blue Jay’s colors and manners are unmistakable. As he flies, the white-tipped outer tail-feathers and secondaries show plainly; as he perches, his crest is prominent. But when the bird student essays to identify the Blue Jay from call-notes alone there may be trouble, for this bright creature not only has a considerable vocabulary of his own but also imitates other birds extremely well. He can reproduce the scream of a Red-shouldered Hawk so faithfully that small birds of the vicinity drop into silence for an instant. More than once this cry has misled me. As a rule, he screams peer, peer in a dominant, harsh voice, or gives violin-like, squeaky calls, the pattern and musical intent of which are known only to himself.

He is a confirmed nest-robber and is not protected by law in Pennsylvania. While it is true that he eats the eggs and young of smaller birds, yet he has some food habits in his favor, and at worst is a handsome villain.

The nest is defended valiantly by the parents. I once climbed to a Blue Jay’s nest and took the last remaining young one. As I started to descend I felt a sharp blow on my forehead. When I reached the ground my face was lined with blood; the parent bird had punctured my skin with her beak.

In fall and winter, Blue Jays are very fond of beechnuts and acorns. At the feeding-counter they often choose peanuts if these are to be found. Their hearty manner and brilliant colors make them an attractive addition to any flock of bird-neighbors, in spite of their objectionable traits.

NORTHERN RAVEN
Corvus corax principalis Ridgway

Description.—Much larger than a Crow; bill and feet very strong and heavy; feathers of throat long and pointed, not rounded. Entire plumage black, glossed with steel-blue and pale greenish and purplish. Length: About 24 inches. Wingspread about four feet.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A rare permanent resident, found only in the wildest mountain gorges, chiefly in the central counties.

Nest.—A very large and bulky affair, deeply cupped like a Crow’s, usually placed in an inaccessible niche on a cliff or high in a tree. It is made of twigs and branches and is lined with moss, hair, grape-vine bark, and rootlets. Eggs: 3 to 6, usually pale bluish or bluish green, spotted with brown, olive, and gray.

Ravens might easily pass for Crows, were not their cracked, raucous voices to echo solemnly through the gorges which they inhabit. Looking up we may see the great black birds circling through the sky like hawks; we may be near enough to note that the tail is not rounded as in the Crow, but wedge-shaped, the middle feathers being noticeably the longest. When a Raven does not soar, nor croak, he appears much like a Crow, and identification ought to be either from notes, or flight, or from direct comparison with Crows. These smaller cousins, incidentally, mob the Raven with as much gusto as they exhibit in attacking an owl.

Northern Raven

CROW
Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos Brehm

Description.—Black, glossed with bluish and purplish, underparts duller in appearance. The Crow is probably our best-known bird. Length: 19 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—In southeastern counties the Crow occurs the year round, and during winter in great flocks; elsewhere it is chiefly absent in winter, returning in late February or early March, and remaining until December. It is widely distributed and abundant as a summer resident.

Nest.—A bulky structure made of twigs, moss, and leaves, lined with hair, grape-vine bark, and moss, placed from 20 to 60 feet from the ground, in trees. Eggs: 3 to 6, generally light bluish green, heavily spotted with brown and gray.

Call-notes, flight, appearance, and bad habits of the Crow are all well known and need no discussion. It should be said, however, that its destruction of ground-inhabiting insects, tomato and tobacco worms, and small mammals, is to its credit. The Crow is not protected in Pennsylvania.

FISH CROW
Corvus ossifragus Wilson

The Fish Crow is decidedly smaller than the common Crow (16 inches in length), though this is not noticeable in the field. The underparts are brightly glossed as above, and the call-notes are decidedly different from those of the Crow, being higher and not sounding like a caw. The Fish Crow occurs in Pennsylvania chiefly along the Susquehanna and Delaware rivers, and is not usually seen far from these streams. At Harrisburg a large colony nests at McCormick’s Island. Fish Crows often pick their food from the surface of the water like gulls.

STARLING
Sturnus vulgaris vulgaris Linnæus

Other Names.—Blackbird (erroneous); Black Sparrow (erroneous).

Description.—A little smaller than a Robin, with a long, pointed bill and short tail; feathers of head and neck narrow and pointed; walks when on the ground. Adults in spring: Plumage black, highly glossed with blue, green, purple, and violet, particularly on the neck, all feathers above more or less broadly tipped with creamy or buffy; unspotted below, save on sides and flanks; wings brown, the coverts glossy, all feathers edged with brownish gray; feet mahogany-red; bill yellow; eyes dark brown. In winter: Similar, but underparts as well as upperparts spotted with whitish or creamy buff; bill brown, not yellow. Young birds, before they moult into the first winter plumage, are dull grayish brown, unmarked; their bills are blackish brown. Length: About 8 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—Now found in almost every county and rapidly encroaching upon the western and more mountainous counties; exceedingly abundant in the southeastern counties, occurring locally at certain seasons in flocks of thousands.

Nest.—Of grasses, leaves, and weed-stalks, placed in a natural cavity in a tree, a woodpecker nest, or bird-box. Eggs: 3 to 6, pale blue.

Starling, in Spring

Introduced from Europe about fifty years ago, the Starling has extended its range rapidly, so that it is today one of the abundant birds of most of Pennsylvania. It is very gregarious and, save in the spring, is usually seen in immense flocks, walking through fields or wheeling about in the air, with fluttering flight.

It nests early, utilizing all available cavities, and if there are not enough to go round, it permits Flickers or Red-headed Woodpeckers to dig one and then ousts the owners so as to use the new cavity for its own nest. It has been known actually to kill Flickers in driving them from their newly made nests. As Starlings become increasingly abundant, there is grave danger of their making it difficult for some of our birds to rear their young at all.

The Starling is a great mimic. It has a characteristic, high, thin squeal and numerous chuckling notes, which it intersperses with imitations of the Wood Pewee, Bob-White, and other well-known birds. As it sings, it puffs out its throat-feathers, and during spring, shakes its wings in ecstasy.

Favorable remarks must be made concerning the food-habits of this bird. It eats, especially during spring and summer, much noxious insect life, noticeably larvæ which it finds in lawns and fields, and it preys upon the dreaded Japanese beetle. As its natural enemies come to assert themselves, it may eventually become a desirable bird citizen.

Starlings roost together in great numbers. They like to congregate in barn-lofts, cupolas or steeples, or along the high window-sills and cornices of buildings where they squeal all night as they crowd each other, or take short flights in the soft glow of the electric lights.

BOBOLINK
Dolichonyx oryzivorus (Linnæus)

Bobolink, Male, in Spring

Other Names.—Skunkbird; in fall, Reedbird; Ricebird.

Description.—Bill short, conical, and sparrow-like; tail-feathers sharply pointed. Adult male in spring: Glossy black, with broad patch of buffy yellow on nape and hind neck, a few streaks of yellowish on the back, and scapulars, lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, white, the upper part of the rump-patch grayer; tertials and greater coverts edged with buffy; underparts sometimes indistinctly barred with buffy; eyes brown; bill black; feet mahogany-red. Female: Sparrow-like in appearance, buffy in color, heavily streaked above, lightly on sides; a black line back of eye, and crown blackish divided by median buffy line. Immature birds in first fall plumage are similar to the adult female, but much lighter in appearance, sometimes quite yellow, noticeably so in the field. The adult male after a complete early spring moult is rich in appearance, the brownish tips of this plumage wearing off in forming the nesting plumage with which we are best acquainted. Length: 7 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A summer resident, common in certain localities, almost altogether absent elsewhere. It is to be looked for from mid-April or early May until mid-October.

Nest.—On the ground in a grassy meadow, well hidden from above and difficult to find, made of grasses and rootlets, lined with finer materials. Eggs: 3 to 7, pale grayish, spotted and scrawled, sometimes quite heavily, with dark brown and olive-gray.

Robert o’Lincoln is not to be found in every meadow where daisies grow, and where the grass is deep and green, but in those wide, green lowlands or grassy slopes which he has chosen for his own, the gay songster reigns supreme, flying on tremulous wings over the flowers, trailing into the grasses to let his legs and wings hang limp while he continues his bubbling song, flying boldly toward the intruder and luring him aside. The Bobolink’s song is a marvel of bird-music. It seems to spring from an inexhaustible supply of strange syllables and genuine musical notes, offered in a tumultuous jumble as profligate as the manner in which the bird lets himself fall into the grass while he continues to sing. Sometimes I have thought the birds wanted to stop their song but could not. And, meanwhile, the female is warned of the approach of an enemy; she sits quietly on her nest, or slips away.

In the autumn, the birds abandon their nesting-grounds and flock in the grain-fields, garden-patches, or swamp-lands where goldenrod and rank weeds furnish food and shelter for the night. Here the yellowish young troop along, gaily calling wink, wink as the weed-tops bend with the weight of their plump bodies. On a cool night they rise to pass to the rice-fields of the South, where they will be shot by the thousand as the dreaded Ricebird, and thence to South America, their winter home.

COWBIRD
Molothrus ater ater (Boddaert)

Other Names.—Cow Blackbird; Blackbird.

Description.—Smaller than Robin; bill short, heavy, and sparrow-like. Adult male: Head, neck, and breast coffee-brown, with faint purple gloss; rest of plumage black, with greenish reflections over most of the surface, but bluish and purplish in certain lights. Adult female: Noticeably smaller than male, dull gray-brown all over, slightly streaked on underparts, and paler on throat. Young birds are similar to the female but are somewhat more buffy on the throat, and the underparts are slightly more streaked, the feathers being edged with buffy brown. Length: About 8 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—An abundant summer resident from about March 15 to November 1; casual in winter.

Nest.—The Cowbird builds no nest but lays its eggs in the nests of other, usually smaller, species, and does not incubate them nor care for the young in any way. The species most commonly thus parasitized in Pennsylvania are the Red-eyed Vireo, Yellow Warbler, Phœbe, Song and Field Sparrow, Ovenbird, Scarlet Tanager, and others. I have never found Cow-bird eggs in a Red-winged Blackbird’s nest, and, as a rule, Red-wings chase Cowbirds away from their home swamp angrily whenever they appear.

When the Cowbird comes in spring he is usually concerned over his mating, and while he is not a songster, he puts much energy into his high, thin squeak as he bows, almost upside down, with wings and tail outspread, in the top of some tree. This same high note is often to be heard as the birds, in groups of three or four, pass over, undulating slightly in the manner of their tribe.

On the ground, the Cowbird walks in a quiet and dignified manner. It may be seen in pastures, sometimes perching on the cows’ backs where it captures insects. I once saw a flock of them remain an entire morning near a newly born calf, evincing great interest in the little creature and its mother.

The female is an expert at locating nests. Evidently she watches smaller birds, learns where they are building their nests, and then while they are not watching her, slips in and deposits her egg. Sometimes the egg is laid long before the nest is completed. Occasionally, when an egg is thus deposited before the rightful owner of the nest has laid her eggs, the little birds build another bottom in their nest, sealing the heavy egg beneath the hair and vegetable fiber. Yellow Warbler nests are thus sometimes several stories high, and I have more than once found eggs sealed into the foundation material of the nests of larger birds. I remember one Scarlet Tanager nest which held two eggs of the owner and four of the Cowbird, and there was an additional Cowbird egg sealed in the foundation material.

Cowbird, Male

Being larger than his nest-mates, the young Cowbird claims the most attention. He may actually push the other young and eggs out of the nest.

The Cowbird’s food habits are not objectionable, however, and no ill effects seem to result from this parasitism upon smaller birds.

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD
Agelaius phœniceus predatorius (Wilson)

Other Names.—Swamp Blackbird; Redwing; in autumn, Reedbird.

Description.—Smaller than Robin. Adult male in spring: Black, with bluish reflections and occasionally narrow rusty edgings; lesser coverts bright scarlet, the outer row of largest feathers buffy or whitish; eyes dark brown; bill and feet black. Males in first breeding plumage: Similar but likely to be more marked with rusty, and some of the feathers of the scarlet patch are streaked with dark brown. Adult males in winter: Upperparts edged with rusty. Adult females: Heavily streaked with dark brown and buffy above, and with blackish and light gray below, a pinkish or orange-buffy suffusion over the face, particularly on the throat. Immature birds are similar to the females. Young birds in the moult in August and September are strangely blotched with black and buffy. Length: Male, about 9½ inches; female, about 8½ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A common though somewhat locally distributed summer resident from mid-March to early November. Found as a nesting bird only where there are cat-tail swamps or low meadows. Sometimes noted in winter.

Nest.—A neatly woven basket of dry grasses suspended, usually, between cat-tail stalks a few feet above the water in a swamp, or in weeds or bushes in a low meadow. Eggs: 3 to 6, pale blue, spotted and scrawled, chiefly at the larger end, with black.

Red-winged Blackbird, Male

At about the time the hilarious tree-frogs set up their evening choruses, the Red-wing returns. His handsome plumage enlivens the stretches of dead cat-tails, and his tuneful, liquid song delights the ear. As he sings, he spreads his blazing wing-patches and fluffs out his glossy plumage. The males come north in a body before the females arrive.

The females set to work building the nests almost at once. If the weed-growth is low in the swamp, they build them but slightly above the water; those built by females which arrive later are higher. If nests are suspended upon growing cat-tail leaves or stalks, they are sometimes overturned by the unequal growth of the vegetation.

Let a hawk or Crow appear near the Red-wing’s swamp, and a spirited chase ensues. Almost with a Kingbird’s persistence, the brilliant males, sometimes several of them, dive and scold at the intruder, the while the smaller creatures of the swamp cease their noises and watch the busy scene.

Red-wings occasionally do considerable damage in grain-fields in late summer and early autumn, but their food habits are, for the most part, beneficial, or at least not harmful.

MEADOWLARK
Sturnella magna magna (Linnæus)

Other Name.—Field Lark.

Description.—Size of Robin, with short tail, large, strong feet, and long, pointed bill. Male: Upperparts brown, the plumage of the back marked with black and margined with creamy and whitish, the tertials and middle tail-feathers barred with black; line above eye, yellow in front and buffy behind; cheeks gray; throat, breast, and belly bright yellow, the breast marked with a prominent black collar; sides buffy, streaked heavily with dark brown and black; outer tail-feathers white, showing plainly in flight; eyes dark brown; bill brownish; feet flesh-color. Female: Similar, but duller. Adults and young in winter: Much browner, the yellow of the breast considerably clouded by brown tips of the new plumage, which wear off as spring approaches. Length: 10½ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—An abundant summer resident from mid-March until November; casual, sometimes fairly common, in winter, if food is available.

Nest.—A depression in the ground, in a wide field, among deep grasses, lined with dry grass, the surrounding grass pulled into an arch above. Eggs: 3 to 6, white, spotted with reddish brown, chiefly at the larger end. Meadowlark nests may sometimes be found by dragging a rope, loosely stretched between two persons, across the meadow.

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.

ORCHARD ORIOLE
Icterus spurius (Linnæus)

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.

BALTIMORE ORIOLE
Icterus galbula (Linnæus)

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.

RUSTY BLACKBIRD
Euphagus carolinus (Müller)

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.

PURPLE GRACKLE AND BRONZED GRACKLE
Quiscalus quiscula rigdgwayi Oberholser
and
Quiscalus quiscula æneus Ridgway

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

EVENING GROSBEAK
Hesperiphona vespertina vespertina (W. Cooper)

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

PINE GROSBEAK
Pinicola enucleator leucura (Müller)

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
Carpodacus purpureus purpureus (Gmelin)

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.

RED OR AMERICAN CROSSBILL
Loxia curvirostra pusilla Gloger

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.

WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL
Loxia leucoptera Gmelin

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

REDPOLL
Acanthis linaria linaria (Linnæus)

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.

GOLDFINCH
Astragalinus tristis tristis (Linnæus)

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.

PINE SISKIN
Spinus pinus pinus (Wilson)

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.

ENGLISH SPARROW
Passer domesticus (Linnæus)

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.

SNOW BUNTING
Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis (Linnæus)

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.

VESPER SPARROW
Poœcetes gramineus gramineus (Gmelin)

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.

SAVANNAH SPARROW
Passerculus sandwichensis savanna (Wilson)

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].)

GRASSHOPPER SPARROW
Ammodramus savannarum australis Maynard

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.

WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW
Zonotrichia leucophrys (J. R. Forster)

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

WHITE-THROATED SPARROW
Zonotrichia albicollis (Gmelin)

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.

TREE SPARROW
Spizella arborea arborea (Wilson)

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

CHIPPING SPARROW
Spizella passerina passerina (Bechstein)

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.

FIELD SPARROW
Spizella pusilla pusilla (Wilson)

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].)

SLATE-COLORED JUNCO
Junco hyemalis hyemalis (Linnæus)

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.

SONG SPARROW
Melospiza melodia melodia (Wilson)

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.

SWAMP SPARROW
Melospiza georgiana (Latham)

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].)

FOX SPARROW
Passerella iliaca iliaca (Merrem)

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.

Fox Sparrow

Its rich red-brown rump and tail are sufficient to distinguish this bird from the other sparrows, but not always from the Hermit Thrush, a bird with a surprisingly similar color-pattern when seen from the rear or in flight. The thrush has a slenderer bill, of course, and has the habit of elevating the tail when it alights. Usually, the Fox Sparrow occurs in flocks; in spring it indulges itself in song—a rich, ringing melody, among the most impressive of our sparrow songs. The call-note is a heavy tschŭp, somewhat like the alarm-cry of the Brown Thrasher. Look for the Fox Sparrow in thick woodlands, among grapevines and similar tangles. This species responds readily to squeaking.

TOWHEE
Pipilo erythrophthalmus erythrophthalmus (Linnæus)

Other Names.—Chewink; Ground Robin; Swamp Robin; Joree; Guffee (local).

Description.—A little smaller than a Robin, with long tail and comparatively short wings. Male: Head, neck, upper breast, and upperparts black, the base and part of the outer web of the primaries, and spots on the tertials, white; three outer tail-feathers with white tips, the outer web of the outer feather entirely white; sides and under tail-coverts rich reddish brown, bordered irregularly with black spots along sides of belly; belly white; eyes bright red; bill black. Female: Similar in pattern, but black of male replaced throughout by rich, grayish brown, quite bright in some individuals; eyes bright reddish brown. Length: 8½ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—An abundant migrant and summer resident in all woodlands, usually from early or mid-April to late October or later. Occasionally it is found in the dead of winter, even when the snow is deep.

Nest.—A cup of grasses and slender weed-stalks, generally placed on the ground, rarely in a low bush, lined with finer materials, and usually located in the woodlands at the base of a small tree, under a May-apple plant, or in a bank. Eggs: 3 to 5, white, thickly, evenly, and finely spotted, and sometimes blotched with reddish brown, grayish, and black.

Towhee, Male

The Towhee’s interesting habit of scratching among the leaves is characteristic and rather amusing. Like a little hen, the bird bustles about on the ground, jumping back and forth as the leaf-mold flies and as the small terrestrial insects and fallen weed-seeds are exposed. A Towhee thus hunting for food may make a laughably big noise.

Its flight is jerky, not usually rapid, and the tail pumps and flashes considerably, showing the white tips of the outer feathers plainly. None of our woodland birds more clearly displays white in the tail than does this ground-inhabiting species, unless it is the smaller Junco.

Listen for the often-repeated, rather loud call-note of this bird, too-whee, as he elevates his crest and flicks his tail. The song is rather musical and resembles somewhat the following syllabization prit-tel-lee, lee, lee, lee, lee, the last part being run together so rapidly as to be scarcely pronounceable. The Towhee sings from the top of a bush or low tree and, while performing, lets his tail hang limp and lifts and throws back his head.

Young Towhees, carefully guarded by their voluble and agitated parents, are hard to find in their leafy home. They have heavily streaked underparts, and therefore look a good deal more like the race of sparrows, to which they belong, than do their parents.

CARDINAL
Richmondena cardinalis cardinalis (Linnæus)

Other Names.—Redbird; Virginia Cardinal or Redbird; Cardinal Grosbeak.

Description.—Smaller than Robin; both sexes with high crests and huge, pink bills. Adult male: Bright, deep rose-red, richest on breast; back, wing and tail-feathers edged with grayish; region in front of eye and on throat black; bill orange-pink; eyes brown. Female: Grayish brown above, buffy white and grayish below, the crest, wings, and tail tinged with red, noticeable especially in flight. Young male: Like the adult female, but the under-wing linings are pink and the breast is blotched with red. Length: 8 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—An abundant permanent resident in southern and western Pennsylvania, and locally in the mountains. It is extending its range northward along the river valleys.

Nest.—A neat but rather thin cup of weed-stalks and grasses, scantily lined with rootlets and other fine materials. Eggs: 3 or 4, white, spotted and speckled with lilac and grayish.

Cardinal, Male

Both the male and female Cardinal sing a loud, whistling song which may be variously written as poo-ree, poo-ree, reap-er, reap-er, whit you, whit you, or what cheer, what cheer, many times repeated. The call-note is a metallic chirp. Cardinals are sometimes familiar door-yard birds. Since they stay the year around, a special effort should be made to feed them corn, suet, nuts, sunflower seeds, and grit during the snowy spells.

Cardinals like to nest in shadowy places, and will sometimes rear their young in shrubbery or vines which grow about our porches.

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK
Hedymeles ludoviciana (Linnæus)

Description.—Smaller than Robin, with very large beak. Adult male: Head, neck, and upperparts black, the wings, tail, and upper tail-coverts marked with white; triangular breast-patch and under-wing linings light rose-red; rest of underparts white, streaked on sides with black; bill white or pinkish white; eyes dark brown. Adult female: Sparrow-like in appearance, being dull brown, streaked with black above, the wings marked with two whitish wing-bars, the underparts buffy, streaked with brown on breast and sides. Young males: Like the females but with rosy under-wing linings. Adult male in winter: Like adult female, but the wings and tail more or less as in the spring plumage and rosy breast-patch showing to an extent. Length: 8 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A somewhat local and irregular migrant throughout, and a summer resident chiefly in the central and northern counties from late April to mid-September.

Nest.—A cup made of vegetable fibers and rootlets, often so thin that the eggs show through, placed in a thick tree, in a low, damp situation, 8 to 25 feet from ground. Eggs: 3 to 6, pale blue-green, spotted with brown.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Male Female

The song of this bird is a bright, musical warble, resembling the carol of a Robin. Both sexes incubate the eggs, and the male may sometimes be heard singing softly or in a full-throated manner while at his domestic duties. These birds eat many destructive insect pests, including the much-dreaded Colorado potato beetle. The call-note may be written eek.

INDIGO BUNTING
Passerina cyanea (Linnæus)

Indigo Bunting
Female Male

Description.—Adult male in spring: Bright, glossy green-blue all over, purplish on head, somewhat dusky on wings and tail, and the belly sometimes marked with a few whitish feathers; bill and eyes black. Adult female: Grayish brown, lighter below, the lesser coverts and edge of wing and tail-feathers bluish; two obscure grayish wing-bars. Young birds: Like the females. Adult males in winter: Similar to those in spring but all feathers tipped widely with brown, giving an effect much as in the female. Length: 5½ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A common migrant and summer resident from late April or early May to mid-September; sometimes very abundant in favorable localities.

Nest.—A rather firm, deep cup made of weed-stalks and plant fibers, placed a few feet from the ground in a raspberry or other low bush, usually at the edge of a woodland or in an open space among the trees. Eggs: 3 to 5, very pale blue or bluish white.

In the very top of a tree, along the hot midsummer roadside, sings the brilliant male during the lazy noon hours, his bright, rich music an accompaniment to the damp warmth which rises from the fields or to the dust that settles on the leaves near the road. Approach the singer carefully or he will fly before you get a good glimpse of him. The female is not easy to recognize unless she happens to be with or near her mate. She is very dull in color and is not often seen. Raspberry and blackberry thickets are the favorite haunt of this bird.

The larger Blue Grosbeak (Guiraca cærulea cærulea) should be looked for in southern counties. Records for this rare species are very desirable.

The Dickcissel or Black-throated Bunting (Spiza americana) is a very local summer resident which should be looked for in open fields. It is English Sparrow-like in appearance, but has a yellow breast. Its song may be written Dick, dick, chic, chic, chic.

SCARLET TANAGER
Piranga olivacea (Gmelin)

Description.—Larger than the English Sparrow, with bill which is heavy like a sparrow’s but longer and not so conical. Adult male in summer: Bright scarlet, our brightest red bird, with black wings and tail, pale olive-green bill, and dark brown eyes. Adult female: Olive-green above, dull yellow below. Male in winter: olive-green, like the female, but with black wings and tail. Male birds in changing plumage, such as is found in late summer, are much blotched in appearance. Length: A little over 7 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A common migrant and summer resident of the woodlands from late April and early May to mid-September.

Nest.—A rather shallow, thinly constructed cup made of rootlets and weed-stalks, placed from 20 to 40 feet from the ground, usually in a deciduous tree. Eggs: 3 to 6, pale blue-green, speckled with reddish brown.

Scarlet Tanager, Male

The slow, crawling movements and lazy, rather harsh, warbling song of this bird strongly suggest the tropics, its ancestral home. Its song is much like a Robin’s, but it is more alto and is harsher and lazier, and its call-note is a plainly given chi-perr, which is often more frequently heard in the damp woodlands than any other bird-note of midsummer. The intensity of the male Scarlet Tanager’s full plumage fairly takes the breath. At a distance, the dull female may suggest a vireo or a large warbler, but her movements are always characteristic of this family.

PURPLE MARTIN
Progne subis subis (Linnæus)

Description.—Larger than English Sparrow; wings long and pointed; tail moderately long and noticeably forked. Adult male: Rich purplish and bluish black, the lores velvety black; feet and bill black; eyes dark brown. Adult female: Blackish glossed with blue above; forehead, underparts, and imperfect collar around neck, gray; belly whitish. Immature birds: Like the adult female. Length: 8 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A fairly common but extremely local migrant and summer resident from early or mid-April to mid-August and occasionally later.

Nest.—Made of leaves and grasses in a cavity in a tree, crevice in a building, or in a bird-house, from 12 to 40 feet from the ground. Eggs: 3 to 7, white.

Purple Martin; Barn, Rough-winged, Bank, Cliff, and Tree Swallows

Spluttering notes, some of which resemble an old-fashioned music-box, announce the return of the Martins to their accustomed nesting quarters. Gracefully, the glossy birds sail about, calling to each other, capturing insects, and perching near or upon their nest. They have almost altogether given up nesting in hollow trees and prefer to use bird-boxes, it appears, though in such towns as Waynesburg, Ligonier, and Coudersport they nest in any cranny among the buildings which they can find. Martins are very fond of dragonflies; they have the interesting habit of bringing green leaves into the nest during summer, either as new lining for the nests, to make the young birds cooler, or for some other reason. In late summer they band together, sometimes in tremendous flocks, depart for some congregating point along the New Jersey or Delaware coast, or elsewhere, and prepare for the journey to their South American winter home. Purple Martins are temperamental in choosing their nesting quarters. Certain towns do not please them, and they will not, apparently, nest; in other towns they nest anywhere.

CLIFF SWALLOW; EAVES SWALLOW
Petrochelidon albifrons albifrons (Rafinesque)

Description.—About the size of an English Sparrow, but with long wings; tail of moderate length, not noticeably forked; sexes similar. Adults: Forehead buffy white; crown and back glossy steel-blue, the latter obscurely streaked with white; cheeks, ear-patches, chin, and throat rich reddish brown; back of neck, narrow collar, and underparts grayish; belly white; wings and tail blackish, glossed with blue; rump pale reddish or orange-brown, very noticeable in flight. Young: Dull grayish brown, the rump noticeably rusty though not as plainly so as in adult. Length: 6 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A fairly common migrant throughout and extremely local summer resident, chiefly in the northern counties, from early or mid-April to early or mid-September.

Nest.—A bottle-shaped structure of mud, lined with grasses and feathers, the funnel-shaped entrance to the nest pointed outward and downward. It is built under the eaves of a barn or other building, always on the outside, or on a cliff or bridge abutment. Usually many nests are found together. Eggs: 4 to 7, white, or creamy white, speckled with reddish brown.

Look for the buffy rump-patch of this slow-flying, graceful swallow, which gathers mud for its nest without alighting on the ground and whose conversational twitterings sound like the squeaks produced by rubbing a piece of wet rubber with the finger. In early spring and during later summer, several kinds of swallows will be found together in the migratory flocks. Cliff Swallows are easily driven from their nests by English Sparrows or Starlings; they will not use bird-boxes put out for them.

BARN SWALLOW
Hirundo rustica erythrogastris Boddaert

Description.—Smaller and slenderer, but longer than an English Sparrow, with long, pointed wings and very long, deeply forked tail which is noticeable in flight or while the bird is perched on a wire. Adult male: Forehead, chin, and throat rich reddish brown; line through eye and band across breast blackish; upperparts blackish, highly glossed with steel-blue, the inner margins of the tail-feathers marked with white spots; rest of underparts and wing-linings pale reddish brown. Adult female: Similar, but duller. Young birds: Almost white below and with only moderately long, though noticeably forked tails. Length: 7 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—An abundant migrant and summer resident from mid-April to late August or early September.

Nest.—A cup of mud, lined with feathers and a few grasses, built upon a rafter on the inside of a barn or other building, usually in a more or less inaccessible spot. Eggs: 3 to 7, white, spotted with brown.

Every farmer boy loves the cheerful swallows which twitter so amiably and circle so tirelessly about the barn, capturing insects above nearby pools and darting through the doors, or sometimes through mere cracks in the boards, so unerringly. These birds have good reason to be popular, for they are not only beautiful and companionable neighbors, but they are distinctly beneficial because of their capturing of myriads of flying insects which they eat or feed to their ravenous young. I once saw a blacksnake at the nest of a Barn Swallow, high on an upper rafter in a barn-loft, and it had eaten two of the young before I interrupted its meal.

TREE SWALLOW; WHITE-BELLIED SWALLOW
Iridoprocne bicolor (Vieillot)

Description.—Smaller than an English Sparrow; tail of moderate length and not deeply forked. Adult male: Upperparts glossy blue-green, brightest on crown and back, less colorful on wings and tail; entire underparts pure white. Female: Similar, but duller. Young birds: Like the female. Length: 6 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A fairly common migrant throughout, but a rather rare and local summer resident in northern counties and at high altitudes, from early April to late August. As a nesting bird, it is almost always found near a body of water.

Nest.—Of grasses and other vegetable matter, lined with feathers, placed in a cavity, an old woodpecker nest, or in a bird-box, usually from 15 to 60 feet from the ground, in a tree at the edge of a lake or in the water. Eggs: 3 to 7, white.

The swallows are easily distinguished once their outstanding characters are firmly fixed in the mind. This bird has white, absolutely unmarked underparts—the Bank Swallow’s white breast is crossed with a brownish band; the Rough-wing’s throat and breast are gray. I have seen Tree Swallows nesting at Conneaut Lake, Crawford County, and at several of the lakes in the mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania.

BANK SWALLOW
Riparia riparia riparia (Linnæus)

Other Name.—Sand Martin.

Description.—Smallest of the swallow family, considerably lighter and slenderer than an English Sparrow; sexes similar. Adults: Grayish brown above; wings and tail noticeably darker than back in flight; underparts white; breast crossed by a narrow, dull brown band, distinctly noticeable when the bird is at rest; tail not deeply forked. Length: About 5¼ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—Formerly found at several points during summer where it does not nest now, due to pollution of the streams. It is a fairly common migrant and local summer resident from mid-April to early or mid-September.

Nest.—Of grasses and rootlets, lined with feathers, placed at the end of a long burrow which is usually several feet above high-water-mark and sometimes 5 to 6 feet long. Eggs: 3 to 6, white or creamy white.

This little swallow usually nests in large colonies. It has a graceful, fluttering flight, much less direct and rapid than that of the somewhat larger, though amazingly similar, Rough-winged Swallow, which occurs in many parts of Pennsylvania where the Bank Swallow does not nest. In identifying this species, take care to observe closely the brown band across the breast and the light brown back which contrasts with the blacker wings and tail.

ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW
Stelgidopteryx serripennis serripennis (Audubon)

Description.—About the size of a Barn Swallow; outer web of outer primary with tiny recurved hooks along the entire edge, noticeable when the thumb or finger-nail is drawn along it; these hooklets are sometimes absent in the female; the purpose they serve is not known. Adults: Above brownish gray, quite dark on wings and tail; throat and breast pale brownish gray; belly white. Immature: Similar, but the outer web of the outer primary has no hooklets and the gray of the throat and breast is sometimes washed with reddish brown. Length: 5¾inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A rather rare, somewhat local, and never abundant summer resident from April 15 to September 1, found almost altogether in the more southern and less mountainous counties.

Nest.—Of grasses and weed-stalks, lined with finer materials, but not with feathers, placed at the end of a burrow in a bank, as is the Bank Swallow’s, or in crevices in rocks along a stream, in abutments of bridges, or sometimes in pipes about dwellings which stand near streams. Eggs: 3 to 6, white.

The Rough-wing’s graceful, sweeping flight is less fluttering than that of the Bank Swallow. All of the swallows usually allow fairly close approach and therefore should not be difficult to identify.

CEDAR WAXWING
Bombycilla cedrorum Vieillot

Cedar Waxwing

Other Names.—Cherry Bird; Cedar Bird.

Description.—Plumage soft and silken; feet rather short and small; head with high crest; bill small. Adult male: Head, neck, breast, and back, glossy olive-brown; forehead and line through eye, chin, and throat, black; a white line extending backward from lower mandible to beneath eye; black forehead bordered behind with white; wings, rump, and tail, blue-gray; secondaries tipped with small waxen appendages; tail prominently tipped with pale yellow; sides and belly sulphur-yellow; under tail-coverts whitish; bill, feet, and eyes, black. Female: Similar, but usually lacks the waxen appendages on the secondaries. Young birds: Similar, but with only a small crest and noticeably streaked. Waxen appendages sometimes occur on the secondaries of the female as well as on the tips of the tail-feathers in both sexes. Length: A little over 7 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—An erratic and irregular permanent resident, being sometimes abundant, sometimes absent for several seasons; usually seen in flocks.

Nest.—Neatly built of weed-stems, twigs, and fibers, lined with softer materials, placed in a tree, usually from 12 to 20 feet from the ground, and toward the end of the branch. Nesting often takes place rather late in summer. I have seen a female sitting upon her eggs as late as September 11. Eggs: 3 to 6, blue-gray, spotted with black.

The Cedar Waxwing’s trim form and sleek plumage make him an outstandingly handsome bird. He has no song, however, giving forth only a fine, shrill eeeeeeee, which is scarcely audible to some observers. A flock of these plump-bodied birds sometimes sit in a tree-top, their feathers fluffed out. They catch insects like flycatchers. Sometimes they indulge in a queer little dance. In a cherry tree which is full of fruit, they sometimes pass tid-bits between them in a strangely deliberate, polite fashion. They are very fond of cedar berries, poke berries, and the fruits of the Virginia creeper, but the name “Cherry Bird” is well earned. Remember the crest, the upright carriage, the flocking tendency, and the yellow-tipped tail of this species. The waxwings are the only birds which have their tails tipped with yellow.

The Northern or Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrula) is to be found rarely in winter. Records of this species in Pennsylvania are very desirable. It is like the Cedar Waxwing in color, but is larger; the under tail-coverts are rich reddish brown, and the wings are marked with a white patch on the primary coverts, white tips on the secondaries, and white and yellow edgings on the primaries. When Bohemian Waxwings appear they are likely to be docile and unsuspicious, and will therefore give the observer an excellent opportunity to identify them satisfactorily.

NORTHERN SHRIKE
Lanius borealis Vieillot

Northern Shrike

Other Name.—Butcher Bird.

Description.—Size of Robin, but with larger head and large, strongly hooked bill; sexes similar. Adults: Top of head, hind neck, and back, light gray, lightest along outer edges of scapulars and fading into white on rump and upper tail-coverts; line above eye, white; broad line through eye to ear-coverts, wings and tail, black; tips of the secondaries, base of the primaries, and tips of outer tail-feathers, white; underparts finely barred with light gray; bill, feet, and eyes, black. Young birds: Brownish gray, with dark brown wings and tail which are marked with white much as in the adults. The underparts are finely barred with brownish. Length: 10½ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—Rather rare winter visitant from late October or November to March. It is found chiefly in the northern counties in more or less open regions.

The shrike’s striking black and white plumage will suggest a Mockingbird. Its harsh cries have a sinister quality, however, suggesting a bird of prey. The heavy, hooked bill and strong feet assist it in capturing the mice, small birds, and insects which are its food, and which it impales on thorns or on barbed wire. Records of this species are desirable.

MIGRANT SHRIKE
Lanius ludovicianus migrans W. Palmer

Other Name.—Butcher Bird.

Description.—Smaller than Robin, with proportionally large head and strongly hooked bill; sexes similar. Top of head, hind neck, and back, clear gray, shading into whitish at outer edges of scapulars and on rump and upper tail-coverts; wings and tail black; tips of secondaries, base of primaries, and tips of outer tail-feathers, white; broad band through eye back to ear-coverts, black; underparts white, grayer on breast and belly, which are not barred.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A rather rare and local migrant and summer resident from early March to November, nesting chiefly in the Lake Erie coastal region and elsewhere in flat, open country.

Nest.—A bulky affair made of twigs, lined with feathers, placed in a thorn tree not far from the ground. Eggs: 3 to 6, white, spotted with gray or olive-gray.

Migrant Shrike

When a Shrike moves from one perch to another, it drops to within a few inches of the ground and moves along with characteristic buzzing flight, at which times its gray, black, and white plumage is conspicuous. In the field its head appears large, and it is given to perching in prominent barren places, on the top of a tree or on a wire.