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November 05, 1961 - The White Throated Sparrow• to O z w w A z CI) w H White throated spa►voeu Exclusive Sunday Review Sketch by Dennis Puleston of Brookhaven ocus on Nature Once again it is my pleasure to have Dennis Pu- leston, our illustrator, writing for this column. Today his article concerns our friendly new arrival from the north, the "White- Throat. " -ps. - THE WHITE - THROATED SPARROW By Dennis Puleston As if to announce the approach of the melancholy season, when the leaves laegin to fall, a sweet but plaintive lament can now be heard issuing from the thickets and , weed patches. It is a thin, tremulous whistle in a minor key, a string of notes rising and then falling in pitch and volume toward the end, as though the songster were mourning the departure of the pleasant summer days. Yet, sad ao the song in a y sound to our ears, the bird re- sponsible for it is far from brok- en- hearted. In fact, the White - throated Sparrow appears to be always cheerful; even on the bitt- erest winter day, when the earth is bound in snow and ice, it is happily scuffling amongst the dead leaven. in the more sheltered bushes, searching for seeds and insects. it will come readily to the feeding station, where we are given an opportunity to admire the plumage of this particularly handsome member of the Sparrow family. As a further adornment to its smart black and white streaked cap and white throat, the adult bird ha':+ a small patch of bright canary yellow between bill and eye. This sturdy 'bird, along with its close relatives the Tree Sparrow and Slate - colored Junco, appears to regard Lang Island as a de- sirable winter resort in the same way that humans flock to t he Florida beaches. For the White - throat is a bird of the far north; Alta breeding range extends into Greenland, northern Mackenzie, and Alaska. It can also be found nesting in northern New Y o r k and New England. It is in its spring breeding grounds that its song is heard at its best. Here, the wt:tful quality so character- istic of the fall utterances is re- placed by a more cheerful yet still ethereal strain. I have been above the timber line on Mount Monadnock 'in New Hampshire on a May evening, when the song of the White -throat could be heard on all sides. These were birds singing in their own breeding territories, and their pure, sweet note-, held a far more confident ring than the somewhat hesitant and often broken melodies we hear on Long Island in the fall and early spring, when the male by Paul Stoutenburgh are not in the full stimulation of the breeding season. Many naturalists who h a v e heard the spring song of t h is bird claim that it Pa one of the loveliest sounds in Nature. Henry Thoreau, who was well acquaint - ed with the White- throat during his Maine wanderings, remarked ...the effect produced by this in- comparable song is surpassingly beautiful." In fact, the bird has been named Rossignol or Night - ingale by the French - Canadians 'in some of its northern breeding grounds. Several musicians have attemp- ted to reduce the song to musical notation for the piano, without much success, but it has been skillfully imitated by a tremolo effect on the E- string of a fine violin. It has been variously transliterated as "Old Sam Pea- body, Peabody, Peabody," "Ah, poor Canada, Canada, Canada ", and, according to Thoreau, a s "Ah, tette- tette -te ". Be that as it may, I like to believe the bird is saying "Sow wheat, Peverly,' Peverly, Peverly ", for there is a delightful New England legend concerning this interpretation. It seems that a Connecticut farmer named Peverly had been dogged by a series of misfortunes to the point where he was facing bankruptcy unless he was able to produce a ;ticcessful crop. He was walking moodily in his meadows, pondering whether he s h o u l d gamble his last savings on a crop of oats or wheat, when a small, sweet voice sang distinctly from the hedgerow "Sow wheat, Pev- erly, Peverly, Peverly ". T h e farmer took this as a happy o- men, together with the birds advicel, His crop of wheat gave a bumper yield for which he re- ceived a high price, his fortunes were recouped, and the farm was saved. To many New England countryfolk, the White - throated Sparrow is still known as t he Peverly Bird. In a far more direct sense, the White- throat has always been a friend to man. During the winter it feeds largely on the seeder of such noxious weeds as ragweed and birdweed, althotigh some in- sects and wild berries are also devoured. This bird should there- fore be given every encourage- ment at the feeder during the colder months, when natural food are sometimes buried beneath the snow. Millet and other small seeds that come in the package of winter bird food available from all our local grocery stores will be most acceptable to the White - throated Sparrow. Those who are thus able to attract it to their gardens will be well rewarded by the pre! once of this handsome, usefal, and engaging w "i n t e r visitor with the haunting song. FIELD OBSERVATIONS: Roy Latham - Orient: Summer Tanager - October 6 Worm- eating Warbler - October 10 L R Ernest - Southampton: Palm Warblers (2) October 21 Mecox: Ruddy Ducks - October 23 Wood Duck (4) October 24 Pine Warbler Dennis Puleston - Moriches Inlet Clay - colored Sparrow - October 21 Gannets (12) - October 21 Carmans River: Bald Eagle (1) - October 23 Please -3end your field observat- ions to Paul Stoutenburgh, PO O Box 105, Cutchogue.