g6 THE BIRDS ABOUT Us. 



This sparrow builds its nest on the ground, laying 

 pretty white eggs with a goodly sprinkling of reddish- 

 brown. 



A group of sparrows known scientifically as 

 the Ammodrami, includes some migratory species, 

 and the Grasshopper-finch, that loves to twitter 

 from the lower rails of an old worm-fence, is one 

 of them. Seen at a little distance you might not 

 distinguish it from some of our other and even 

 commoner ones, but if you caught a glimpse of the 

 bright-yellow bend of the wing you could make no 

 mistake. What a queer little wheezy song it has ! 

 Not much louder than the squeak of a mouse, and 

 suggestive of the grasshopper's stridulation ; hence 

 one of its common names. Like the grass-finch, it 

 nests on the ground. 



Going to the sea-coast and following the imme- 

 diate shores of the rivers until the water ceases to 

 be brackish, and sometimes where it is quite fresh 

 but still tide-water, you will find two very interesting 

 sparrows. The larger one and most prominent gen- 

 erally is the Sharp-tailed Finch, or " Quail Head," as 

 it is sometimes called. It is a quick-motioned bird 

 that climbs as readily through reedy growths as it 

 flies over them, and can run with a mud-hen's speed 

 over the mud. Nuttall says they cannot sing, but 

 their nesting-day twitter, heard in the marshes, where 

 we have so little music, is not so harsh as he inti- 

 mates. A great deal in bird music depends upon 

 association. After a day on the sea-shore with but 

 the grating of a gull's cry in your ear, the lively 

 twitter of a sharp-tailed finch is certainly refreshing. 



