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"Ammodramus maritimus. Seaside Finch. Olive-gray, obscurely streaked on back and crown with darker and paler; below, whitish, often washed with brownish, shaded on sides with color of back, and with ill-defined dark streaks on breast and sides; maxillary stripes on the same; wings and tail plain dusky, with slight olivaceous edgings; wing-coverts and inner quills somewhat margined with brown; edge of wing bright yellow; a bright yellow spot on lore, and often often some vague brownish and dusky markings on side of head; bill plumbeous, or dark horn-blue; feet dark." Elliot Coues, 1884

Seaside Finch

"Ammodramus maritimus. Seaside Finch. Olive-gray, obscurely streaked on back and crown with darker and…

"Junco hiemalis. Eastern Snow-bird. Black Snow-bird. Blackish-ash, below abruptly pure white from the breast, the sides shaded with ashy. In the summer, and most fall and winter specimens, the upper parts have a more grayish, or even a decidedly brownish, cast, and the inner secondaries are edged with pale bay. The slaty-black intense on the head; belly and crissum pure white, the line between the two transverse or convex forward; wings and tail blackish, with slightly hoary edging of some feathers; 2-3 lateral tail feathers pure white, wholly or in great part. No rusty brown on back or sides; any shade on the sides ashy, not pinkish. Bill pinkish-white, or flesh-color, usually black-tipped." Elliot Coues, 1884

Eastern Snow-bird

"Junco hiemalis. Eastern Snow-bird. Black Snow-bird. Blackish-ash, below abruptly pure white from the…

"Melospiza fasciata. Song Sparrow. Silver-tongue. Below, white, slightly shaded with brownish on the flanks and crissum; with numerous black-centred, brown-edged streaks cross breast and along sides, usually forming a pectoral blotch and coalescing into maxillary stripes bounding the white throat; crown dull bay, with fine black streaks, divided in the middle and bounded on either side by ashy-whitish lines; vague brown or dusky and whitish markings on sides of the head; a brown post-ocular stripe over the gray auriculars, and another, not so well defined, from angle of mouth below the auriculars; the interscapular streaks black, with bay and ashy-white edgings; rump and cervix grayish-brown, with merely a few bay marks; wings with dull bay edgings, the coverts and inner quills marked like the interscapulars; tail plain brown, with darker shaft lines, on the middle feathers at least, and often with obsolete transverse wavy markings. Very constant in plumage, the chief difference being in the sharpness and breadth of the markings, due in part to the wear of the feathers. In worn midsummer plumage, the streaking is very sharp, narrow, and black, from wearing of the rufous and whitish, especially observable below where the streaks contrast with white, and giving the impression of heavier streaking than in fall and winter, when in fresher feather, the markings are softer and more suffuse. The aggregation of spots into a blotch on the middle of the breast is usual. Bill dark brown, paler below; feet pale brow." Elliot Coues, 1884

Song Sparrow

"Melospiza fasciata. Song Sparrow. Silver-tongue. Below, white, slightly shaded with brownish on the…

"Ammodramus. Seaside Sparrow. Bill remarkably slender and lengthened for this family, with culmen toward end, gonys straight, and sometimes an evident lobation of the cutting edge of the upper mandible. Wings short and rounded, yet longer than tail; inner secondaries, though not elongate, reaching nearly to end of primaries when wing is closed; point formed by 2d-4th quills. Feet large and stout, reaching outstretched about to the end of tail; tarsus about equal to middle toe and claw in length; lateral toes of equal lengths, very short, their claws under reaching base of middle claw. Tail shorter or not longer than wings, much rounded, of narrow, stiffish, sharp-pointed feathers. Embracing small streaky marsh sparrows, especially of the sea-coast, but not exclusively maritime, as long supposed; remarkable for slenderness of the bill, sharp narrow tail-feathers, and stout feet fitted for grasping slender swaying reeds. Edge of wing bright yellow; a yellow spot of buff stripe on head; upper parts olive-gray or quite blackish, streaky." Elliot Coues, 1884

The Details of a Seaside Sparrow

"Ammodramus. Seaside Sparrow. Bill remarkably slender and lengthened for this family, with culmen toward…

"Spizella domestica. Chipping Sparrow. Chipping Bird or Chippy. Hair-bird. Bill black; feet pale; crown chestnut; extreme forehead black, usually divided by a pale line; a grayish-white superciliary line; below this a blackish stripe through eye and auriculars; lores dusky. Below, a variable shade of pale ash, nearly uniform and entirely unmarked; back streaked with lack, dull bay and grayish-brown; inner secondaries and wing-coverts similarly variegated, the tips of the greater and median coverts forming whitish bars; rump ashy, with slight blackish streaks or none; primaries and tail-feathers dusky, with paler edges." Elliot Coues,1884

Chipping Sparrow Head

"Spizella domestica. Chipping Sparrow. Chipping Bird or Chippy. Hair-bird. Bill black; feet pale; crown…

"Zonotrichia albicollis. White-throated Crown Sparrow. Peabody-bird. Crown black divided by a median white stripe, bounded by a white superciliary line, and yellow spot from nostril to eye; below this a black stripe through eye; below this a maxillary black stripe bounding the definitely pure white throat, sharply contrasted with the dark ash of the breast and sides of the neck and head. Edge of wing yellow. back continuously streaked with black, chestnut, and fulvous-white; rump ashy, unmarked. wings much edged with bay, the white tips of the median and greater coverts forming two conspicuous bars; quills and tail-feathers dusky, with pale edges. Below, white, shaded with ashy-brown on sides, the ash deeper and purer on the breast; bill dark; feet pale." Elliot Coues, 1884

White-throated Sparrow Head

"Zonotrichia albicollis. White-throated Crown Sparrow. Peabody-bird. Crown black divided by a median…

"Spizella domestica. Chipping Sparrow. Chipping Bird or Chippy. Hair-bird. Bill black; feet pale; crown chestnut; extreme forehead black, usually divided by a pale line; a grayish-white superciliary line; below this a blackish stripe through eye and auriculars; lores dusky. Below, a variable shade of pale ash, nearly uniform and entirely unmarked; back streaked with lack, dull bay and grayish-brown; inner secondaries and wing-coverts similarly variegated, the tips of the greater and median coverts forming whitish bars; rump ashy, with slight blackish streaks or none; primaries and tail-feathers dusky, with paler edges." Elliot Coues,1884

Chipping Sparrow

"Spizella domestica. Chipping Sparrow. Chipping Bird or Chippy. Hair-bird. Bill black; feet pale; crown…

"Passercules s. savana. Common Savanna Sparrow. Thickly streaked everywhere above, on sides, and across breast; a superciliary line, and edge of the wing, yellowish: lesser wing-coverts not chestnut; legs flesh-color; bill rather slender and acute; tail nearly even, its outer feathers not white; longest secondary nearly as long as the primaries in the closed wing. Above, brownish-gray, streaked with blackish, whitish-gray and pale bay, the streaks largest on interscapulars, smallest on cervix, the crown divided by an obscure whitish line; sometimes an obscure yellowish suffusion about head besides the streak over the eye. Below, white, pure or with faint buffy shade, thickly streaked, as just stated, with dusky- the individual spots edged with brown, mostly arrow-shaped, running in chains along the sides, and often aggregated in an obscure blotch on the breast. Wings dusky, the coverts and inner secondaries black-edged and tipped with bright bay; tail-feathers rather narrow and pointed, dusky, not noticeably marked." Elliot Coues, 1884

Common Savanna Sparrow

"Passercules s. savana. Common Savanna Sparrow. Thickly streaked everywhere above, on sides, and across…

The field sparrow (Spizella pusilla) is a songbird in the Emberizidae family of American sparrows.

Field Sparrow Singing

The field sparrow (Spizella pusilla) is a songbird in the Emberizidae family of American sparrows.

"Passerella iliaca. Eastern Fox Sparrow. General color above ferrugineous or rusty-red, purest and brightest on the rump, tail, and wings, on the other upper parts appearing in streaks laid on an ashy ground. Below, white, variously but thickly marked except on the belly and crissum with rusty-red- the markings anteriorly in the form of diffuse confluent blotches, on the breast and sides consisting chiefly of sharp arrow-head spots and pointed streaks. Tips of middle and greater wing-coverts forming two whitish bars. Upper mandible dark, lower mostly yellow; feet pale. One of the finest singers of the family; quite unlike any other Eastern species of sparrow. A large handsome species." Elliot Coues, 1884

Fox Sparrow

"Passerella iliaca. Eastern Fox Sparrow. General color above ferrugineous or rusty-red, purest and brightest…

The Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus) is a bird in the Emberizidae family of American sparrows. It was known as the synonym common name, Grassfinch.

Vesper Sparrow

The Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus) is a bird in the Emberizidae family of American sparrows. It…

"Zonotrichia albicollis. White-throated Crown Sparrow. Peabody-bird. Crown black divided by a median white stripe, bounded by a white superciliary line, and yellow spot from nostril to eye; below this a black stripe through eye; below this a maxillary black stripe bounding the definitely pure white throat, sharply contrasted with the dark ash of the breast and sides of the neck and head. Edge of wing yellow. back continuously streaked with black, chestnut, and fulvous-white; rump ashy, unmarked. wings much edged with bay, the white tips of the median and greater coverts forming two conspicuous bars; quills and tail-feathers dusky, with pale edges. Below, white, shaded with ashy-brown on sides, the ash deeper and purer on the breast; bill dark; feet pale." Elliot Coues, 1884

White-throated Sparrow

"Zonotrichia albicollis. White-throated Crown Sparrow. Peabody-bird. Crown black divided by a median…