In "Wood Notes Wild," S. P. Cheney says this song-loving Sparrow has a
sweet voice and a pleasing song, which he has set to music. No Sparrow,
he says, sings with a better quality of tone. A distinguished musician
himself, no one was better qualified to give a final opinion upon the
subject. Others have spoken in praise of it, Burroughs characterizing it
as "a strong, richly modulated whistle, the finest Sparrow note I have
ever heard." Baird says, "in the spring the male becomes quite musical,
and is one of our sweetest and most remarkable singers. His voice is
loud, clear, and melodious; his notes full, rich, and varied; and his
song is unequalled by any of this family that I have ever heard." Mr.
Torrey finds a "Thrush-like" quality in the song of the Fox Sparrow. In
his "Birds in the Bush" Mr. Torrey describes an interesting contest as
follows:
"One afternoon I stood still while a Fox Sparrow and a Song Sparrow sang
alternately on either side of me, both exceptionally good vocalists, and
each doing his best. The songs were of about equal length, and as far as
theme was concerned were not a little alike; but the Fox Sparrow's tone
was both louder and more mellow than the others, while his notes were
longer,--more sustained,--and his voice was 'carried' from one pitch to
another. On the whole, I had no hesitation about giving him the palm;
but I am bound to say that his rival was a worthy competitor."
The Fox-colored Sparrow is also one of the largest and finest of his
tribe, breeding from the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Labrador north into
Alaska; in winter it is met with south over the whole of the eastern
United States to the Gulf coast. Audubon found it nesting in Labrador
from the middle of June to the 5th of July. Its nest has been found in
trees and on the ground in the Arctic regions, on the Yukon river in
July. According to many observers, the nests are, for the most part,
placed on the ground, usually concealed by the drooping branches of
evergreens. They are made of grass and moss, lined with fine grass and
feathers. Some nests are three or four inches in depth, strong, compact,
and handsome. The eggs are three or five, oval in form, of a clayey
greenish ground color, dotted with dull reddish brown and chocolate.
They vary in coloration.
In the early spring the Fox Sparrow is often seen associated with small
parties of Juncos, in damp thickets and roadside shrubbery; later,
according to Mr. Bicknell, it takes more to woodsides, foraging on
leaf-strewn slopes where there is little or no undergrowth. In the
autumn it is found in hedgerows, thickets and weedy grainfields, rarely
however, straying far from some thickety cover. It is a great scratcher
among dead leaves, and "can make the wood rubbish fly in a way which, in
proportion to its size, a barn-yard fowl could scarcely excel."
The Sparrows are worthy of close study, many of them possessing habits
of great beauty and interest.