SPARROWS AND FINCHES if 



The nest is built on the ground in some sheltered 

 nook, perhaps under a low bank, on a tussock 

 of grass roots, and is sometimes arched over. 

 They range from Illinois and Pennsylvania 

 north to Hudson Bay, wintering from Massa- 

 chusetts southward. In winter I have found them 

 with large flocks of other Sparrows among the 

 sedge grass and broom in the sand barrens of 

 North Carolina. 



The White-throated Sparrow. It seems in- 

 evitable that one who spends much time study- 

 ing Nature's feathered host should develop 

 special fondness for some particular varieties. 

 I confess to great admiration, not to say affec- 

 tion, for the White-throated Sparrow, and no 

 summer seems quite complete that has not 

 yielded me opportunity for close association 

 with this sweet wilderness singer. 



In the early days of April I search eagerly for 

 them in the city parks, and often I am rewarded 

 by a snatch of their delicious melody. But it is 

 only a suggestion of their full, rich song which I 

 hear in July in the spruce woods of northern 

 Maine. Here they seem the very embodiment 

 of earthly bliss and their notes are heard at all 

 hours of the day and night, for it seems so brim- 

 ming is their cup of joy that it may not be fully 

 expressed during the hours of daylight, and they 

 sing at intervals throughout the night. 



As the song of the White-throat easily lends 

 Itself to verbal rendering, much local sentiment 

 is expressed In its interpretation. In Massachu- 

 setts where formerly it was said one must be a 

 Peabody or a nobody, the bird is believed to 



