Evening star., 1944-03-18
This and That
By Charles E. TruceUeH.
BETHESDA, Md.

HEIHESDA, Nd.
Dear Sir:
Recently we have had in our yard
what I think is o white-crowned SPAR
row. It was larger than an ordinary
sparrow and had bit OF white on the
head, but must admit not as much as
1t should have. Does the white-crowned
sparrow come here?
I have enjoyed your articles on the
creatures OF nature and the way they
live and the descriptions of them. They
often have helped me to identify new
bird, at least new to me.
Sincerely, J. B."
This bird was the white -throated
sparrow, not the white-crowned.
The white-throat, as it is familiarly
called, is large, very large for sparrow,
being more than inches long
The white-crowned is less than this.
being 6A inches, and with a great deal
OF white on the head.
This bird seldom comes here early in
March, but usually shows up later.
The white-crowned will seem about
the same size as a house sparrow, but
the White-throated Immediately strikes
the observer as a much larger bird, and
it Is.
1t is very common for white crowned
sparrow to be mistaken for the white-
throat.
The white-crowned does not have the
yellow patch in front of the eyes, It
lacks the white stripe over the eve and
the white at the throat.
These are all signs of the white
throated sparrow, a much more COM
mon bird in this vicinity.
1t is interesting to note that the
white-crowned sparrow has a domed
head, as the name might suggest.
whereas the white-throated sparrow has
a comparatively fiat head These differ
ences could be seen only by a keen OBJ
server when he had the two birds to-
gether for comparison. Sometimes this
happens, since these two sparrows often
fly and eat together.
* Il
The white-crowned sparrow is here
in migration in spring and autumn
Usually 1t does not arrive until the last
of March.
The white throat comes in the fall
and stays here all winter, leaving late
in April
1t will be realized that there is a.
period when the two are here together
The white-throat Is much the more
abundant hereabouts.
The songs Of these birds are much
alike. One listener will prefer one the
next the other. John Burroughs was
said to have liked best the song of the
Whlte-croWned. We believe the average
listener will prefer the white -throat's
singing. The plaintive quality is more
pronounced and always attracts atten
ton, in the way that a new bird song
will, from those whose ears are attllned
to such things. Not every person fond
OF birds keeps his ears open, and some
times even when he does he is not will
ing to credit the music he hears to the
proper birds. Sweet spring whistles of
the starlings, for instance, are attrib-
uted to almost any other songster, and
IN the summer the song of the catbird
is often credited to the mockingbird
Blue jays make notes which only those
who have seen them at the time thev
are making them are willing to put to
their credit.
Visits of the White-croWned sparrow
are welcome, because these birds are
great weed seed eaters. Investigators
claim that more than 10 per cent of their
food is weed seed
The white -throated sparrow is also a
great help to gardeners in eating many
weed seeds. 1t also eats much insect
food and wild berries. Neither species
really is harmful in any way. The old
SANDER that the white e-croWned SPAR
row ate the buds and blossoms of fruit
trees was refuted when such fare was
found in only 80 of more than 500
stomachs examined.