THE LITTLE SONGSTERS. 



113 



tnrbance of public peace at sunrise. Wilson calls 

 him the earliest, sweetest, and most lasting songster 

 of all, and he is quite correct in this estimate if 

 only the silvery voiced thrushes are not included. 

 He is a little longer or slimmer than the English 

 sparrow, but browner in color, and pretty 

 well flecked over the breast and sides with 

 pointed spots of dark brown. The ashen 

 color about eye and chin are not 

 nearly so pronounced in this species 

 as it is on the chipping sparrow 

 and the tree sparrow. He is 

 also a larger and a browner bird 

 than the field sparrow, and as 

 the neck and 

 whole breast of 

 the swamp spar- 

 row are ash-col- 

 or he bears only 

 slight resem- 

 blance to this 



bird. 



Song Sparrow. 



He sings all summer long and well on into the 

 fall, and we may see him at almost any hour of the 

 day or evening perched on the topmost twig of a tree 

 pouring forth his music with all the variety and execu- 

 tion of a canary. He also has .a happy fashion of sing- 



