January 



tions of their presence there could hardly be 

 any such thing as winter ornithology, as the 

 naturalist relies so much more on his ear than 

 on his eye to discover them. 



The ''white-throat" is one of the prettiest 

 species of sparrows (whose merit, as a class, is 

 not that of good looks), apparently quite nu- 

 merous in this region in winter, and can be seen 

 any day in the Park. The head is very dis- 

 tinctly striped with black, white, and a bit of 

 yellow, while the throat is conspicuously white. 

 The rest of the body is rather neutral in color. 

 They are commonly found on the ground or 

 in bushes, rarely flying to any great height in 

 trees, and at this season always seem busily 

 engaged in picking up a very precarious living. 

 We are told they neither reap nor gather into 

 barns. In fact, like all others of the feathered 

 race, they live very much from hand to mouth. 

 This trait, so reprehensible in the human fam- 

 ily, gives the birds many a solid day's work in 

 the snows of winter, trying to satisfy the pangs 

 of hunger, which are not always satisfied even 

 then. After a fresh fall of snow covering the 

 usual sources of supply, I have found the 

 ''white-throats" busily exploring the bushes 

 after sundown on a cold January night. But 



23 



