Color Key to North American Birds Part 74

_Notes._ Call, a weak _tseep_; song, loud, sweet, varied, ringing and joyous.

Range.--Eastern North America; breeds from Magdalen Islands and Manitoba, northwest to Alaska; winters from Virginia to the Gulf States.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 585a.]

=585a. Shumagin Fox Sparrow= (_P. i. unalaschensis_). Back _not_ distinctly streaked, much paler than No. 585; spots below grayish brown; palest of present group.

Range.--Alaska, Shumagin Islands, and Alaskan Peninsula to Cook Inlet.

=--Kadiak Fox Sparrow= (_P. i. insularis_). Similar to No. 585a, but browner above and below; tail nearly same as back; breast spots larger.

Range.--"Kadiak Island, Alaska, in summer; in winter south along the coast slope to southern California." (Ridgw.)

=--Sooty Fox Sparrow= (_P. i. fuliginosa_). _Ads._ Above, including wings and tail, uniform brownish umber, _unstreaked_; below heavily spotted with same.

Range.--Coast of British Columbia and northwest Washington; south in winter to San Francisco, California. (Ridgw.)

=--Townsend Fox Sparrow= (_P. i. townsendi_). Similar to _fuliginosa_ but more rufous.

Range.--Southern Alaska north to Cross Sound; south in winter to northern California. (Ridgw.)

=--Yakutat Fox Sparrow= (_P. i. annectens_). Similar to _townsendi_ but less rufous; very near _fuliginosa_, but not quite so deeply colored.

Range.--Coast of Alaska, from Cross Sound to Prince William Sound (to Cook Inlet?); in winter, south to California. (Ridgw.)

=585b. Thick-billed Sparrow= (_P. i. megarhyncha_). L. 7.3; W. 3.3; depth of B. at base, .4. _Ads._ Above and spots below _gray_; wings and tail light brown; bill large. _Notes._ Song, resembles that of No. 585, but is recognizably different.

Range.--Breeding in the Sierra Nevada (both slopes) from Mt. Shasta southward; in winter beyond Sierras as far as Los Angeles County, California. (Ridgw.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 585c.]

=585c. Slate-colored Sparrow= (_P. i. schistacea_). Similar to No.

585b, but smaller, bill smaller; W. 3.2; depth of B. at base, .35.

Range.--Rocky Mountain district of United States and British Columbia; breeds from more eastern ranges of Colorado west to White Mountains in southeastern Colorado, mountains of northeastern California and eastern Oregon; north to interior of British Columbia; in migrations, New Mexico, Arizona, western slopes of Sierra Nevada, western Kansas.

(Ridgw.)

=585d. Stephens Sparrow= (_P. i. stephensi_). Similar in coloration to No. 585b, but larger, the bill conspicuously so; W. 3.4; depth of B. at base .6. (Ridgw.)

Range.--Breeding on San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains; southern California. (Ridgw.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 674.]

=674. Oven-bird= (_Seiurus aurocapillus_). L. 6.1. _Ads._ No wing-bars; no white in tail; above brownish olive-green; crown orange-brown bordered by black; below white streaked with black.

_Notes._ Call, a weak _cheep_; song, a crescendo _teacher_ repeated about five times; also a wild, ecstatic flight song.

Range.--Eastern North America, west to the Rockies; breeds from Virginia and Kansas north to Labrador and northwest to Alaska; winters from Florida south to West Indies and Central America. (Said to breed in Bahamas.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 675.]

=675. Water-Thrush= (_Seiurus noveboracensis_). L. 6; W. 3. A whitish line over eye; above olive; below pale _sulphur yellow_ heavily streaked with blackish; _throat spotted_; no wing-bars or tail-patches. _Notes._ Call, a sharp _c.h.i.n.k_; song, a high-pitched, liquid whistle, _sweet_, _sweet_, _sweet_, _chu-chu-wee chu_. (Jones.) Also a flight song.

Range.--Eastern North America; breeds from northern New England and northern Illinois, north to Newfoundland and Hudson Bay, and south along the Alleghanies to West Virginia; winters from Florida to northern South America.

=675a. Grinnell Water-Thrush= (_S. n. notabilis_). Similar to No. 675, but larger, W. 3.1; upperparts darker, less olive; underparts less yellow.

Range.--Western North America; breeds from Minnesota, western Nebraska, and probably more northern Rocky Mountain district of United States, north to Alaska; winters from southern United States southward; in migration east to Mississippi valley, rarely to Atlantic States from New Jersey southward.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 676.]

=676. Louisiana Water-Thrush= (_Seiurus motacilla_). L. 6.2. _Ads._ A _white_ line over eye; above grayish olive; below _buffy_ white; breast and sides streaked; _no_ spots on throat; no wing-bars or tail-patches. _Notes._ Call, a sharp, metallic _c.h.i.n.k_; song, a sudden outburst of loud wild, ringing notes; also a flight song.

Range.--Eastern United States; breeds from Gulf States to Connecticut, lower Hudson Valley, and Minnesota; winters in tropics.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 697.]

=697. American Pipit: t.i.tlark= (_Anthus pensilvanicus_). L. 6.4. Hind toe-nail much the longest. _Ads._ Outer tail-feather largely white; next one only tipped with white; upperparts grayish brown indistinctly streaked; underparts rich buff, breast and _sides_ streaked with blackish. _Yng. and Ads. in Winter._ Less gray above, paler below.

_Notes._ Call, a soft _dee-dee_ usually uttered in flight; a flight song.

Range.--North America breeding in Arctic regions and in the higher parts of the Rockies from Colorado northward (also on Mt. Shasta?); winters from southern California, Nevada and Gulf States south through Mexico to Central America.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 700.]

=700. Sprague Pipit= (_Anthus spraguei_). L. 6.2. Hind toe-nail much lengthened; two outer tail-feathers _largely_ white. _Ads._ Above streaked with buff and blackish brown; below white tinged with buff; breast streaked. In winter, similar, but less brown above, less buff below. _Notes._ Song, uttered on the wing when several hundred feet above the earth, sweet and far reaching, resembling at beginning song of Skylark.

Range.--"Interior plains of North America, breeding from plains of the Yellowstone northward to Saskatchewan district and from the Red River westward (probably to the Rocky Mountains); south in winter on the tablelands of Mexico to Puebla; accidental in South Carolina."

[Ill.u.s.tration: 702.]

=702. Sage Thrasher= (_Oroscoptes monta.n.u.s_). L. 8.7. _Ads._ Above brownish gray; below whitish heavily streaked with blackish; outer tail-feathers _tipped_ with white. _Notes._ Call, a low chuck; song, deficient in power but possessing sweetness, vivacity and variety; resembling song of Ruby-crowned Kinglet. (Ridgway.)

Range.--"Western United States from western South Dakota, western Nebraska and eastern Colorado, north to Montana, west to the Cascades and Sierra Nevada, south into northern Mexico and Lower California."

(A.O.U.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 705.]