_Emberiza leucophrys_, FORSTER, Philos. Trans. LXII, 1772, 382,
426.—GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 874.—WILSON, Am. Orn. IV, 1811,
49, pl. xxxi, f. 4. _Fringilla (Zonotrichia) leucophrys_, SW. F.
B. Am. II, 1831, 255. _Zonotrichia leucophrys_, BON. List,
1838.—IB. Consp. 1850, 478.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 458, pl.
lxix, f. 2.—COUES, P. A. N. S. 1861, 224.—_Maynard_, Birds E.
Mass. 1870, 118.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 196.—SAMUELS, 309.
_Fringilla leucophrys_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 88; V, 515, pl.
cxiv.—IB. Syn. 1839, 121.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 157, pl. cxcii.
_? Spizella maxima_, BONAP. Comp. Rend. 1853 (either this or _Z.
gambeli_). _White-crowned Sparrow_, PENNANT.
Figured in BUFFON, Ois. IV, 192, pl. ccxxiii, f. 2. Winter.
SP. CHAR. Head above, upper half of loral region from the bill, and a
narrow line through and behind the eye to the occiput, black; a
longitudinal patch in the middle of the crown, and a short line from
above the anterior corner of the eye, the two confluent on the
occiput, white. Sides of the head, forepart of breast, and lower neck
all round, pale ash, lightest beneath, and shading insensibly into the
whitish of the belly and chin; sides of belly and under tail-coverts
tinged with yellowish-brown. Interscapular region streaked broadly
with dark chestnut-brownish. Edges of the tertiaries brownish-chestnut.
Two white bands on the wing.
_Female_ similar, but smaller; immature birds in first winter, with
the black and white stripes on the crown replaced by dark
chestnut-brown and brownish-yellow. Length, 7.10 inches; wing, 3.25.
_Young of the year_ thickly streaked with dusky on the breast. The
lateral stripes of the crown dull brown, the median one streaked
whitish.
[Illustration: _Zonotrichia leucophrys._]
HAB. United States from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, where
they become associated with _Z. gambeli._ Cape St. Lucas; Greenland
(REINHARDT, Ibis, III, 7). Breed in Wahsatch Mountains (RIDGWAY).
The white of the crown separates two black stripes on either side,
rather narrower than itself. The black line behind the eye is
continued anterior to it into the black at the base of the bill. The
lower eyelid is white. There are some obscure cloudings of darker on
the neck above. The rump is immaculate. No white on the tail, except
very obscure tips. The white on the wings crosses the ends of the
middle and greater coverts.
The character distinguishing the western representative (_Z. gambeli_)
of _leucophrys_ is apparently very trifling, but is very constant.
HABITS. The White-crowned Sparrow is found from the Rocky Mountains
eastward to the Atlantic, and in all the intervening territory, from
the Southern States to the Arctic regions. In the high meadows of the
Wahsatch Mountains, Mr. Ridgway found this bird very abundant, and one
very characteristic, breeding there quite as numerously as any other
species. In all that region Mr. Ridgway did not meet with a single
individual of _Z. gambeli_, its western representative. At the
encampment at Parley’s Park these birds soon became on very familiar
terms with the party. They were very sociable, and paid frequent
visits to the cook’s tent, and picked up, without the slightest signs
of fear, the crumbs from the ground. Their sweet morning carol was, he
states, delightful to the ear, and they were held in great favor by
all. A nest of these birds was found on the ground, at Parley’s Park,
June 26. It was built in a bunch of _Geranium_. Specimens of this
species were obtained, in winter, at Cape St. Lucas, Lower California,
by Mr. Xantus.
Although an eastern species, passing, in its migrations, through the
Southern Atlantic States to Labrador in the spring and returning in
the fall, it is a rare species in all New England. Mr. Boardman says
that it is not common in Eastern Maine, and Mr. Verrill that it is
rare in the western part of that State. In Eastern Massachusetts it is
very rare. Mr. Maynard mentions obtaining a single specimen, May 27,
and regards it as quite a rare migrant. I have never met with the bird
near Boston, and do not believe that it is found there, except singly
and rarely. In the western part of the State, though less rare, it is
very far from being common. It is found there in the spring, from the
20th to the 30th of May, and in October from the 1st to the 15th. Mr.
Allen met with it from May 7 to June 6, in 1861, when these birds were
more common than usual. At this period, farther west, in Ohio, Western
Pennsylvania, and New York, these birds are very abundant. From April
10 to the latter portion of May, in 1852, they were abundant in the
neighborhood of Washington, the Capitol grounds being full of them.
They were familiar and fearless, and seemed to delight to search for
food under the large Norway spruces, branching down to the ground.
Their abundance that spring may have been exceptional, as Wilson
appears to have met with but very few specimens.
Mr. Audubon found these Sparrows very abundant in Labrador, where they
were apparently late in breeding. It was not until the 6th of July
that he found one of their nests. This was placed among the moss at
the foot of a low fir. It was made externally of dry hypnum mosses,
matted in bunches like the coarse hair of some quadruped, and
internally of fine dry grasses, arranged with great neatness, to the
thickness of half an inch, with a full lining of the delicate yellow
fibrous roots of the _Coptis trifolia_. The nest was five inches in
its external diameter, and two in depth, the cavity two and a quarter
wide and one and three quarters deep. The eggs, five in number, he
describes as of a light sea-green color, mottled towards the larger
end with brownish spots and blotches, a few spots of a lighter tint
being dispersed over the whole. All the nests found were placed on the
ground or among the moss, and all were alike in their construction. By
the beginning of August the party met with young that were able to
fly. By the middle of that month they had commenced their southern
migrations.
Dr. Coues also found this Sparrow breeding in great numbers along the
entire coast of Labrador. Found in all situations, it seemed to be
particularly fond of deep, thickly wooded, and secluded ravines,
surrounded by high precipitous cliffs, and, when in more open
districts, confining itself to tangled patches of juniper and scrubby
firs. He describes it as a very active and sprightly bird, almost
continually in motion. It seldom alights without rapidly jerking and
flirting its tail, and uttering its loud chirpings. While the female
is incubating, the male usually mounts to the top of the cliff or a
neighboring tree, and repeats his loud and not unpleasing, though
somewhat monotonous, notes for the space of half an hour or more. He
describes its song as very similar to that of the White-throated
Sparrow, consisting of two long-drawn syllables with a rising
intonation, then three more in a quick, hurried manner, with a falling
cadence,—_pēé-dēé-dē-dē-dē_; the whole is delivered in a mellow
whistle. If approached while thus engaged, the performer becomes
instantly silent, and dives hastily into the nearest cover. The nest
was always placed on the ground, and usually in little patches of low
heath, abundant wherever the ground was dry. He found a nest on the
23d of July, containing young just hatched. The female flutters off in
silence when her nest is disturbed, but the male bird vociferates his
angry remonstrance, flirting his tail and jerking his body in an
energetic manner.
The food of this bird, in Labrador, was found to consist of small
coleopterous insects, grass-seeds, a variety of berries, as well as
minute shell-fish, for which they searched the margins of ponds near
the sea-shore. They were also seen to pursue insects on the wing. Mr.
Audubon speaks of its song as consisting of six or seven notes, and
describes it as loud, clear, and musical, although of a plaintive
nature, diminishing in power to the last note. Its flight he describes
as low, swift, and protracted.
Dr. Coues did not find this bird abundant in South Carolina during the
winter, and conjectures that it does not go so far to the south. Its
migrations do not appear to be well defined, and nowhere is it known
to be abundant during this season. Lieutenant Couch met with it at
Brownville, Texas, and Tamaulipes, Mexico, and at Charco Escondido, in
March, at which time they were in flocks, indicating a more southern
migration than is generally supposed.
It extends its northern migrations to the extreme northern and
northeastern portions of the continent, and also to Greenland. On the
Yukon and Anderson Rivers it is replaced by the _Z. gambeli_. It is
not abundant in Greenland. Holböll obtained a single specimen only in
August; and afterwards met with a flock of young birds. He infers that
they breed in the interior, but are restricted to a very narrow strip
of territory.
Eggs of this species, from Wyoming Territory, measure from .90 to .95
of an inch in length by .70 in breadth, and are of an oblong-oval
shape. The ground-color is a light greenish-white, thickly marked with
reddish-brown and lighter markings of an obscure purplish-brown. The
intensity, depth of coloring, and size of the darker brown markings,
vary. They are principally disposed about the larger end.
Zonotrichia leucophrys var. gambeli, GAMBEL.