36 EVERYDAY BIRDS 
commonly seen in April, more than half, perhaps 
as many as four fifths, are members of the spar- 
row family. There are days, indeed, when the 
song sparrows alone seem to outnumber all other 
birds, and other days when the same is true of 
the snowbirds. 
The large and noble sparrow family, which 
includes not only the sparrows, commonly so 
called, but finches, grosbeaks, crossbills, snow- 
birds, buntingss, and the like, is represented in 
North America by more than ninety species, and 
in Massachusetts by about forty. It 1s preém- 
inently a musical family, and, with us at least, 
April is the best month of the twelve in which 
to appreciate its lyrical efforts, notwithstanding 
the fact that one-of its most distinguished song- 
sters, the rose-breasted grosbeak, is still absent. 
Among the more gifted of its April represent- 
atives are the fox sparrow, —~— so named from his 
color, —the purple finch, the song sparrow, the 
vesper sparrow, the tree sparrow, the field spar- 
row, and the white-throated sparrow — seven 
common birds, every one of them deserving to 
be known by any who care for sweet sounds. 
One of the seven, the purple finch, also called 
the linnet, is unlike all the others, and easily 
excels them all in the fluency and copiousness 
of his music. He is readily distinguishable — in 
