SOMERSET HILLS 41 



lores. The female is the same, though 

 paler. 



We hear a rustling in the leaves. 

 What is it? A person's footsteps, a rab- 

 bit, squirrel, or what?— no, it is none 

 of these; it is merely a Fox Sparrow, 

 though you think it impossible after 

 hearing such a noise. He is reddish- 

 brown above, and beneath gray, spotted 

 and streaked with reddish-brown. This 

 is the largest of the Sparrows, and his 

 long tail makes him, at first sight, look 

 like a Thrasher or Hermit Thrush. He 

 does not remain with us, either winter 

 or summer, but lets us see him for an all 

 too brief period in the spring and fall. 



When the foliage begins to turn from 

 green to red, yellow and purple, when 

 the honking of the migrating Geese fly- 

 ing southward attracts our attention, and 

 when the ice forms on lakes, rivers and 

 ponds we expect the Slate-colored 



