ously until August, and after moulting has an intermittent period of song before it leaves in October.
Black-throated Blue Warbler: Passerella iliaca
- Length:
- 6.50-7.25 inches.
- Male and Female:
- The largest and reddest of the Sparrows, the size of the Hermit Thrush. Above red-brown, varying from dark to bright chestnut, brightest on rump and tail. Breast light gray, arrowhead markings on throat and breast, sides streaked with reddish brown. Bill dark above, lower mandible yellowish, feet pale.
- Song:
- A sweet, varied warble, sometimes heard during migrations. Call note a feeble zip-zip.
- Season:
- In migrations. Common in March, April, October, and November. Found by Mr. Averill as late as December 29.
Breeds:
- North of the United States.
- Nest:
- Usual Ground Sparrow nest.
- Eggs:
- Greenish white, speckled with red-brown.
Range: Eastern North America, west to the Plains and Alaska (valley of the Yukon to the Pacific), and from the Arctic coast south to the United States. Winters chiefly south of the Potomac and Ohio rivers.
This bird, whose fox-red feathers, and not a sly disposition, give it the name of Fox Sparrow, is a delightful songster as well as a large and boldly marked species. They come in flocks in very early spring, — when the Bluebird and Song Sparrow are sharing the musical honours, — and, settling on the pastures, send up a wave of gentle music, and when they return in autumn they still give a few soft notes.
Mr. Bicknell has heard them sing as early as February 29 and as late as November 17. He says that this Sparrow seems indisposed to sing unless present in numbers. This probably applies only to the anti-nuptial song; for, as a rule, the perfect song of wild birds is not heard before they leave and after they rejoin the flocks, but only at the period when they assert themselves as individuals.
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