32 A LESSON IN BIRD STUDY. 



Smaller than these birds are the chipping and 

 wood-sparrows, which are often confounded by the 

 beginner. Their lower parts are grayish Avhite and 

 unstriped. They look much alike, but the wood- 

 sparrow is of a more reddish cast than the chippy, 

 and the white stripes on the head are not so sharpl}'- 

 defined. Besides, chippy's bill is black, Avhile his 

 little sylvan cousin's is flesh-colored. The grass- 

 hopper sparrow is still smaller and darker. The 

 tree-sparrow, which is not quite as large as the 

 grass-finch, has an obscure dusky spot in the center 

 of his chest, by which 3'ou may always distinguish 

 him from other members of the family. You will 

 at once recognize the white-throated and white- 

 crowned sparrows; their markings are somewhat 

 alike on the top of the head, but the white-crown 

 has no white throat, and his general color is a fine 

 dark ash, while the white-throat is more brownish. 

 Larger than any of these is the fox-sparrow, a 

 splendid bird, with a network of reddish brown 

 stripes on his entire lower parts. 



Remember that there are many minor points of 

 difference among these species, but I have pur- 

 posely described only the broader and more con- 

 spicuous distinguishing traits. In like manner 3'ou 

 may study each group of the entire bird system. 



