es, Audubon describes over sixty
different birds, ranging from the sparrows to the grosbeaks, and
including the buntings, the linnets, the snowbirds, the crossbills,
and the redbirds.

We have nearly or quite a dozen varieties of the sparrow in the
Atlantic States, but perhaps no more than half that number would be
discriminated by the unprofessional observer. The song sparrow, which
every child knows, comes first; at least, his voice is first heard.
And can there be anything more fresh and pleasing than this first
simple strain heard from the garden fence or a near hedge, on some
bright, still March morning?

The field or vesper sparrow, called also grass finch 8 and
bay-winged sparrow, a bird slightly larger than the song sparrow and
of a lighter gray color, is abundant in all our upland fields and
pastures, and is a very sweet songster. It builds upon the ground,
without the slightest cover or protection, and also roosts there.
Walking through the fields at dusk, I frequently start them up almost
beneath my feet. When disturbed by day, they fly with a quick, sharp
movement, showing two white quills in the tail. The traveler along the
country roads disturbs them earthing their wings in the soft dry
earth, or sees them skulking and flitting along the fences in front of
him. They run in the furrow in advance of the team, or perch upon the
stones a few rods off. They sing much after sundown, hence the aptness
of the name vesper sparrow, which a recent writer, Wilson Flagg, has
bestowed upon them.

In the meadows and low, wet lands the savanna sparrow is met with, and
may be known by its fine, insect-like song; in the swamp, the swamp
sparrow.

The fox sparrow, the largest and handsomest species of this family,
comes to us in the fall, from the North, where it breeds. Likewise the
tree or Canada sparrow, and the white-crowned and white-throated
sparrow.

The social sparrow, alias "hairbird," alias "red-headed
chipping-bird," is the smallest of the sparrows, and I believe, the
only one that builds in trees.

The finches, as a class, all have short conical bills, with tails more
or less forked. The purple finch heads the list in varied musical
abilities.

Besides the groups of our more familiar birds which I have thus
hastily outlined, there are numerous other groups, more limited in
specimens but comprising some of our best-known songsters. The
bobolink, for instance, has properly no congener. The famo