222 CITIZEN BIRD 



WHITE-THROATED SPARROW 



(The Peabody Bird) 



" The White-throat is another bird that you will 

 not see in his summer home, unless you look for him in 

 the Northern States. You may find him nesting about 

 the White Mountains, on or near the ground, with the 

 Olive-backed Thrush and Winter Wren. In other 

 places he may be seen as a visitor any time in spring 

 and autumn, or may even linger about the whole winter. 

 You remember the dead one Nat found, that we used 

 when I Avas teaching you something about birds in 

 general that rainy day, before I began to tell you the 

 particular bird stories. 



" If you think of Sparrows only as a sober, dusty- 

 colored family, you may be surprised to learn that this 

 large, handsome bird, with the white throat, the head 

 striped with black and white, a yellow spot over the 

 eye, and richly variegated brown feathers, is a member 

 of that group." 



" It bothered me dreadfully at first," said Rap, "until 

 one fall some sportsmen, who came through the upper 

 fields looking for Quail, whistled his song and told me 

 about him. There were lots of them here early this 

 spring by tlie mill, but the miller didn't like them 

 because they pitched into his new-sown pasture and 

 gobbled the grass-seed." 



" Yes, of course they eat grass-seed in spring, when 

 the old weed seeds of autumn are well scattered ; but 

 surely we must give a Citizen Bird some good valuable 

 food, not treating him like a pauper whom we expect 

 to live always on refuse. 



