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.