The Birds' Calendar 



the European or the American favorites getting 

 their renown from ''fine feathers," they are at 

 best only modestly attired, and the song spar- 

 row and lark are severely plain. A bird's per- 

 sonality — for it has a personality very distinct, 

 however circumscribed — is a complex matter, 

 compounded of many qualities, among which 

 plumage is one of the less important. 



The sparrows are the largest subdivision of 

 the largest family of birds — the finch family. 

 This family includes, besides the more typical 

 finches, the sparrows, buntings, linnets, gros- 

 beaks, and crossbills. As a family they may be 

 called rather plain in appearance, although it is 

 a rule that has many exceptions, such as the 

 cardinal and rose-breasted grosbeaks and the 

 goldfinches. 



The humblest as well as most numerous sec- 

 tion of the family is that of the sparrows, of 

 which, according to the authorities, there are 

 about forty species to be found in the United 

 States, a part of them in the east, and a part 

 exclusively in the west. In the region of New 

 York about a dozen species may be counted, 

 but in the Ramble only about half that num- 

 ber. 



The sparrows are conspicuously ground-birds, 



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