History of Northfield, New Hampshire 1780-1905: In Two Parts with Many Biographical Sketches and., Part 26

Author: Cross, Lucy Rogers Hill, Mrs., 1834-
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Concord, N.H., Rumford Print. Co.
Number of Pages: 1004

USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Northfield > History of Northfield, New Hampshire 1780-1905: In Two Parts with Many Biographical Sketches and. > Part 26

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ARBOREAL SPECIES.

The arboreal species include the so-called gros- beaks and finches. They all show more or less bright colors, in the adult plumage at least, in contrast to the sober browns and grays of the true sparrows, which are the terrestrial members of the family.

Four species of this group of arboreal finches Depth of bill equals its length from nostril to have bills so robust that the depth at the base equals the distance from nostril to tip. They are tip. the pine grosbeak, the purple finch, the rose- breasted grosbeak and the indigo bird. The PINE GROSBEAK (Pinicola enucleator leucura) is a cold-weather visitor of irregular, but not rare, occurrence. Adult males are bright red, with dusky wings and tail, which have white edgings. Females are ashy gray, with rusty orange on crown and rump. Length, 8 to 9 inches. The PURPLE FINCH (Carpodacus pur- pureus) is a summer resident, much smaller than the last, though

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BIRDS OF NORTHFIELD.

adult males are of a similar red color, but they have no white on wings or tail, and the back is streaked with dusky. Fe- males and young males are olive-brown, streaked with dusky above, and white, heavily streaked with dusky beneath. This finch is a splendid singer, and is often heard in the tops of elms in May and early June, where it feeds on the buds and seeds of that tree. Length, about 6 inches. Nest in trees. The ROSE- BREASTED GROSBEAK (Zamelodia ludoviciana) is a scarce summer resident. The male is black above, excepting its rump and a large spot and two bars on each wing, which are white. "The sides and belly are white, and the breast and wing linings are carmine. The female is coarsely streaked with olive-brown and buff above and white and olive-brown below. She has a broad stripe of white over each eye, and another down the middle of the crown. Her wing linings are saffron yellow. Length about 8 inches. Nest in trees. The INDIGO BIRD (Cyanospiza cyanea) was named from the color of the male, which is deep blue above and below. The female is brown above and brownish white, ob- scurely streaked, beneath. The male is a persistent singer, even during the heat of a summer noon, when most birds are silent. Length about 51/2 inches. Nest in low bushes.

The crossbills present such anomalous bills as Crossbills. to set them at once apart, not only from all other members of their family, but also from all other birds. The upper mandible curves downward, while the lower curves upward, the two crossing at the tips like a pair of scissors. Neither of the two species have been known to breed here, though both are occasionally to be seen at any season. Their normal summer range is farther north. They usually frequent coniferous " trees, but in May and June they come to the elms for their seeds. The male RED CROSSBILL (Loxia cuvirostra minor) has a dull red body, with dusky wings and tail. The female is olive, with a tinge of yellow on breast and rump. Neither sex has bars or spots of white. Length, about 6 inches. The WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL (Loria leucoptera) is like the last in size and contour, but the male is rose-red, with black tail and wings, the latter having two wide bars of white. The female is olive, where the male is red. Her white wing-bars make her identity plain. Both species usually go in flocks.

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HISTORY OF NORTHFIELD.

The third and last group of the arboreal finches Length 5 1-2 inches or less. includes three small species easily recognizable by color characters. The REDPOLL (Acanthis lin- aria) is a winter visitor of irregular occurrence, abundant if found at all. It mainly affects the birches, though weed seeds attract it to the ground, when they are not covered with snow. Its back and flanks are buff streaked with dusky, crown shining red, chin black. Adult males have breast and rump pink. Length 5 to 51/2 inches. The SISKIN (Spinus pinus) is another winter comer at irregular intervals, many years going by without bringing a siskin; then all at once they suddenly be- come common. When at last they do come some fall, they are as likely to stay through the next summer as to go away with win- ter. There is little doubt that they bred in town during the summer of 1900. They feed on seeds of birches and conifers. The sexes are alike, buffy brown above and white beneath, every- where streaked with dusky. The bases of the wing quills are lemon-yellow-seen when the wing is spread but not otherwise. Length, about 494 inches. Nest usually in evergreen trecs. The AMERICAN GOLDFINCH (Astragallinus tristis) is a common per- manent resident, though in its sober brown winter raiment it is not always recognized as the same jovial little bird in yellow and black that dines off dandelion and thistle tops in dooryard and highway. Males in summer are yellow, excepting crown, wings and tail, which are black. Females are dull yellow with dusky wings and tail. In winter both species are olive-brown above and paler beneath, with dusky tail and wings, the latter having two bars of white. Length about 434 inches. Nest in trees, usually maples.

These three species are similar in size and habits. They all go in flocks and their notes have at least a family resemblance. But the redpoll is known by its red crown and black chin, the siskin by its pronounced streaked appearance, while the goldfinch in winter-the only season when its identity can possibly be mis- taken-has neither red crown, black chin, nor streaks, but two white bars on each wing.

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BIRDS OF NORTHFIELD.

We will now take up that portion of the spar- TERRES- TRIAL row family which habitually seeks food on the SPECIES. ground. Of these the SNOWFLAKE (Passerina nivalis), on account of its striking colors, may be set apart by itself. It appears in flocks and only in winter. The under parts and middle of wings are white; the upper parts are buffy and the tail and outer half of the wings are dusky. Length 7 inches.

The rest of this division will be reviewed in three sections according to the color pattern of their breasts: (1) those with breasts heavily streaked; (2) those of which the adults have breasts unstreaked and without any sharp color contrast be- vond a single spot or blotch; and (3) those without streaks but with a dark breast in abrupt contrast to a white belly.

We have five sparrows with streaked breasts

Breasts streaked. named and described as follows: the VESPER SPARROW (Pooecetes gramineus), a common sum- mer resident of fields and pastures, is grayish-brown above, streaked with black from bill to rump. Each wing has a chestnut patch at the bend. The under parts are streaked on the breast and sides with dusky brown. Its middle tail feather is about equal in length to the outer one. Of the streaked grayish brown sparrows, this is the only one having the outer tail feather white. Length about 6 inches. Nest on the ground. The SAVANNA SPARROW (Passerculus sandwichensis savanna) is a summer resi- dent occurring in similar situations as, though less commonly than, the last, which it resembles in general coloration, but differs in having a pale yellow stripe over each eye, no chestnut on the bend of the wing and no white feathers in its tail. Its breast is also more extensively streaked than the vesper sparrow's and it is smaller. Length about 51/2 inches. Nest on the ground.

The HENSLOW SPARROW ( Ammodramus henslowii) is a scarce summer resident in the Jeremiah E. Smith meadow and possibly elsewhere. Its streaks below are confined to the breast and sides, the throat and belly being unstreaked. Its back feathers are blackish at the end and margined all round with white. The ground color of the sides of the head and nape is light olive- green. Its tail feathers are narrowly acute at the tips. Length 5 inches. Nest on the ground.

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HISTORY OF NORTHFIELD. ·

The SONG SPARROW (Melospiza cinerea meloda) belongs to moist situations, where there are bushes, stone walls, rank weeds -anything to hide it. It is an abundant resident from March to November, being one of the earliest birds of spring, when not even a snow storm can quench its clear, sweet singing. Its upper parts are streaked with gray, rusty brown and black, the crown showing a gray median stripe. Below it is white streaked along the sides and across the breast with black, the streaks on the breast running together to make a blotch in the middle. Its outer tail feathers are a quarter-inch less than the middle ones. Length 6 to 7 inches. Nest on the ground or in a low bush or tussock. The LINCOLN SPARROW (Melospiza lin- colnii) is a rare migrant or possible summer resident. Its upper parts are colored almost exactly like the song sparrow, but it differs below in having minute streaks on the throat as well as coarser streaks on the breast and sides and in a pronounced shade of buff across the breast, which bears no blotch of streaks run together. Its outer tail feathers are nearly a quarter-inch shorter than those in the middle. Length about 51/2 inches. The Fox SPARROW (Passerella iliaca) is a common migrant, most numerous in April and November, though it is not often seen unless one visits scrubby woods, especially sprout land. Its prevailing color above is rusty red, brightest on wings, rump and tail, the same color appearing below as streaks on a white ground. Length about 7 inches.

Breasts of adults

unstreaked. -.

The breasts of the young of this group are more or less streaked for a few weeks after they leave the nest, but at all subsequent periods they

show no marked color contrasts beyond an in- distinct spot of dusky in the middle of the breast, which occurs . only in the tree sparrow.

The CHIPPING SPARROW (Spizella socialis), which builds its frail, hair-lined nest in every orchard, is the most confiding and best known of its tribe. The bill of the adult is black, the crown chestnut, the back streaked with gray-brown and black, and the rump pure gray. A wide stripe of white extends from the bill back over each eye. The under parts are grayish white. The outer tail feather is an eighth-inch longer than those in the middle. None of the clear-breasted sparrows have any white

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BIRDS OF NORTHFIELD.

tail feathers. Immature birds of this species have pale bills and streaked crowns. Length about 51/2 inches. Nest always in trees or bushes. The TREE SPARROW (Spizella monticola) is a winter resident, most abundant in October, November, March and April. It resembles the chippy in having more or less chest- nut on the crown, a streaked back, gray rump, middle tail feathers slightly shorter than the rest, but it differs in having a blotch of dusky . in the middle of the breast, more conspicuous wing-bars of white, and the base of the lower mandible yellow. Length about 61/2 inches. The FIELD SPARROW (Spizella pusilla) is a common summer denizen of open pastures bearing patches of sweet fern or other low bushes, with here and there a boulder. In size it is like the chippy, but its entire bill is always pale, its back is more rusty and it has no white stripe over the eye,- that organ being in the middle of a circular patch of gray. The outer and middle tail feathers are of about equal length. Length about 51/2 inches. Nest in a low bush or on the ground beneath one. The GRASSHOPPER SPARROW (Coturniculus cavan- narum passerinus) is a scarce summer resident of fields and grazing lands. It has an insignificant song that has been likened to the stridulations of a grasshopper, whence its name. This species has a shade of buff across the breast, a dirty white stripe down the middle of the crown, yellow on the edge of the bend of the wing, and a tail composed of narrow, acute feathers so short that its outstretched feet reach beyond it. The feathers of the back are mainly black with brown tips and gray edges. Length about 5 inches. Nest on the ground.

The SWAMP SPARROW (Melospiza georgiana) is a common sum- mer resident of meadows and marshes, where water, tall grass and bushes are found together. In size and habits it resembles the song sparrow. Its back is a mahogany-brown, heavily striped with black, its wings and tail being of a clearer and richer brown than the striped area. The forehead of the male is black with a narrow median strip of gray, and the crown is chestnut, bordered on each side by a long stripe of gray above the eye. The crown of the female is narrowly striped, chestnut and black, with a narrow median line and wider lateral ones over each eye of gray. The chin and belly of both sexes are white, the breast being pale gray and the sides clear buffy brown. The outer tail feathers are nearly a quarter-inch shorter than those in the

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HISTORY OF NORTHFIELD. ·

The SONG SPARROW (Melospiza cinerea meloda) belongs to moist situations, where there are bushes, stone walls, rank weeds -anything to hide it. It is an abundant resident from March to November, being one of the earliest birds of spring, when not even a snow storm can quench its clear, sweet singing. Its upper parts are streaked with gray, rusty brown and black, the crown showing a gray median stripe. Below it is white streaked along the sides and across the breast with black, the streaks on the breast running together to make a blotch in the middle. Its outer tail feathers are a quarter-inch less than the middle ones. Length 6 to 7 inches. Nest on the ground or in a low bush or tussock. The LINCOLN SPARROW (Melospiza lin- colnii) is a rare migrant or possible summer resident. Its upper parts are colored almost exactly like the song sparrow, but it differs below in having minute streaks on the throat as well as coarser streaks on the breast and sides and in a pronounced shade of buff across the breast, which bears no blotch of streaks run together. Its outer tail feathers are nearly a quarter-inch shorter than those in the middle. Length about 51/2 inches. The Fox SPARROW (Passerella iliaca) is a common migrant, most numerous in April and November, though it is not often seen unless one visits scrubby woods, especially sprout land. Its prevailing color above is rusty red, brightest on wings, rump · and tail, the same color appearing below as streaks on a white ground. Length about 7 inches.

The breasts of the young of this group are

Breasts of adults more or less streaked for a few weeks after they unstreaked. : leave the nest, but at all subsequent periods they show no marked color contrasts beyond an in- distinct spot of dusky in the middle of the breast, which occurs only in the tree sparrow.

279

BIRDS OF NORTHFIELD.

tail feathers. Immature birds of this species have pale bills and streaked crowns. Length about 51/2 inches. Nest always in trees or bushes. The TREE SPARROW (Spizella monticola) is a winter resident, most abundant in October, November, March and April. It resembles the chippy in having more or less chest- nut on the crown, a streaked back, gray rump, middle tail feathers slightly shorter than the rest, but it differs in having a blotch of dusky in the middle of the breast, more conspicuous wing-bars of white, and the base of the lower mandible yellow. Length about 61/2 inches. The FIELD SPARROW (Spizella pusilla) is a common summer denizen of open pastures bearing patches of sweet fern or other low bushes, with here and there a boulder. In size it is like the chippy, but its entire bill is always pale, its back is more rusty and it has no white stripe over the eye,- that organ being in the middle of a circular patch of gray. The outer and middle tail feathers are of about equal length. Length about 51/2 inches. Nest in a low bush or on the ground beneath one. The GRASSHOPPER SPARROW (Coturniculus cavan- narum passerinus) is a scarce summer resident of fields and grazing lands. It has an insignificant song that has been likened to the stridulations of a grasshopper, whence its name. This species has a shade of buff across the breast, a dirty white stripe down the middle of the crown, yellow on the edge of the bend of the wing, and a tail composed of narrow, acute feathers so short that its outstretched feet reach beyond it. The feathers of the back are mainly black with brown tips and gray edges. Length about 5 inches. Nest on the ground.

278

HISTORY OF NORTHFIELD.

The SONG SPARROW (Melospiza cinerea meloda) belongs to moist situations, where there are bushes, stone walls, rank weeds -anything to hide it. It is an abundant resident from March to November, being one of the earliest birds of spring, when not even a snow storm can quench its clear, sweet singing. Its upper parts are streaked with gray, rusty brown and black, the crown showing a gray median stripe. Below it is white streaked along the sides and across the breast with black, the streaks on the breast running together to make a blotch in the middle. Its outer tail feathers are a quarter-inch less than the middle ones. Length 6 to 7 inches. Nest on the ground or in a low bush or tussock. The LINCOLN SPARROW (Melospiza lin- colnii) is a rare migrant or possible summer resident. Its upper parts are colored almost exactly like the song sparrow, but it differs below in having minute streaks on the throat as well as coarser streaks on the breast and sides and in a pronounced shade of buff across the breast, which bears no blotch of streaks run together. Its outer tail feathers are nearly a quarter-inch shorter than those in the middle. Length about 51/2 inches. The Fox SPARROW (Passerella iliaca) is a common migrant, most numerous in April and November, though it is not often seen unless one visits scrubby woods, especially sprout land. Its prevailing color above is rusty red, brightest on wings, rump · and tail, the same color appearing below as streaks on a white ground. Length about 7 inches.

The breasts of the young of this group are more or less streaked for a few weeks after they

Breasts of adults

unstreaked. leave the nest, but at all subsequent periods they show no marked color contrasts beyond an in- distinct spot of dusky in the middle of the breast, which occurs , only in the tree sparrow.

279

BIRDS OF NORTHFIELD.

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HISTORY OF NORTHFIELD.

middle. Length 51/2 to 6 inches. Nest in a tuft of grass or low bush. The WHITE-THROATED SPARROW (Zonotrichia albicollis) is an abundant migrant and a sparse summer resident in damp scrub land. Its upper parts are mahogany-brown, streaked across the shoulders with black. The crown of the adult male is black with a median line of white. Females and young males have more or less of brown mixed with the black of the crown, and the median line is more gray or buff. The eyebrows and the edge of the bend of the wing are yellow. The chin is white in abrupt contrast to the gray of the breast. These characters with its large size make the identification of this sparrow easy. Length nearly 7 inches. Nest on the ground. The WHITE CROWNED SPARROW (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is a rather scarce migrant. It is similar to the white-throated sparrow in size and habits. It is gray, streaked with dusky brown across the shoulders, clear gray on the nape and breast, dull brown on rump, sides, tail and wings,-the latter having two white wing- bars-and white on chin and belly, merging into the gray of the breast without an abrupt contrast. The crown has a broad median stripe of white joined at the back by two narrow stripes of white running back from the eyes. The sides of the crown, between the median and lateral stripes of white, are black. Young birds lack the black and white on the crown, but they may be told at once from the white-throated sparrow by their gray aspect and the absence of yellow from eyebrows and edges of wings. Length 61/2 to 7 inches.

Lower parts un-

The two species that form this group have the throat and breast dark and sharply defined by

streaked, but contrast with the lower breast and belly which breast and belly in sharp contrast as to color. are white. The JUNCO (Junco hyemalis) is an abundant migrant everywhere and a regular breeder in small numbers about the summit of Bean Hill. Its upper parts, throat, breast and sides are slate color, and its belly and outer tail feathers are white. Immature fall specimens have a brown or pinkish tinge over the slaty por- tions. Length 6 to 61/2 inches. Nest on the ground. The Tow- HEE or CHEWINK .(Pipilo erythropthalmus), named for its ring- ing notes, is a common summer resident of bush pastures and

NOTH .- The English Sparrow (Passer domestious) is rarely seen outside the village, where it is too well known to need a description.

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BIRDS OF NORTHFIELD.

briar patches. The male has upper parts, throat and upper breast, black; sides, chestnut; and lower breast, belly, tips of three outer tail feathers and a small spot on each wing, white. The female differs from the male in being brown where he is black. Length 71/2 to.81/2 inches. Nest on the ground.

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History of Northfield, New Hampshire 1780-1905: In Two Parts with Many Biographical Sketches and., Part 26

Author: Cross, Lucy Rogers Hill, Mrs., 1834- Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Concord, N.H., Rumford Print. Co. Number of Pages: 1004

Author: Cross, Lucy Rogers Hill, Mrs., 1834-
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Concord, N.H., Rumford Print. Co.
Number of Pages: 1004