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.
