70 A SPARROW QUARTETTE. 



" You are thinking of the English sparrow, sir," 

 I responded, just a trifle sharply ; " I refer to the 

 American song-sparrow ; hark ! " 



At that moment the melodious trill of one of 

 those minstrels was wafted through the open door, 

 with a sweet, far-away cadence all its own, and when 

 I indicated to my companion that this was the song 

 to which I referred, there was a marked change in 

 his tone, as he said: 



" Oh, that f Yes, that is very pretty." 



I was strongly tempted to deliver him a homily 

 then and there on our native sparrows, but conclu- 

 ded that perhaps a paper on the subject might find 

 a larger and more appreciative audience. 



Only four of these birds will form the subject of 

 our present study, and they make a quartette that 

 we Americans need not be ashamed of. We begin 

 with that blithe and familiar little friend in plumes, 

 the chipping sparrow. He may be readily identi- 

 fied by his chestnut cap, with its frontlet of black 

 and its grayish-white band on either side, giving 

 him a cavalier appearance. A blackish line runs 

 through the eye and back over the ear. His breast 

 and under parts are a pale ash, unmarked ; his 

 back is streaked with black, bay and brown, and he 

 has two whitish wing-bars. To guard the young 



