34 BIRD-KEEPER'S MANUAL. 



events, the old males are a dark blood red on the 

 head, breast, and neck, which turns after the 

 first moulting in the cage to a dark golden yel- 

 low. They are much wilder than some others 

 of our winter visitants, the cause may be their 

 breeding in more populous districts, as they do 

 not go so far north as others, (as has been ob- 

 served,) but they can be tamed and thrive well, 

 and are contented in a domestic state. 



LOCATION. Found in the Middle and North- 

 ern States in the winter and spring; in summer, 

 to the Northward of this. 



SONG FINCH, OR SPARROW. 



If not the best musical performer that visits 

 us from the South, there is none that meets a 

 heartier welcome in New England than the Song 

 Sparrow. While winter yet lingers, and seems 

 loth to depart, and while yet our fields are mot- 

 tled with patches of sno\v. and spots of bare 

 earth, and Boreas, with his surly blast, still 

 sweeps over our land, perched on an isolated 

 shrub, or on the still almost snow-covered fence, 

 the Song Sparrow pours forth his pleasing and 



