Part 13

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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)