CHAPTER FOURTEEN 



SPARROWS 



American Museum of Natural History 

 FIG. 199. And every little bird upon a tree, 



Ruffling his plumage bright, for ecstasy 

 Sang in the-wild insanity of his glee. 



PHCEBE GARY 



THE sparrow family contains more than one thousand 

 species. They occur in all parts of the world except 

 Australia. In the vicinity of your home it would prob- 

 ably be possible to see thirty or more species of this 

 family in the course of a year. A dozen or more of these 

 are known as sparrows of different kinds. Others are 

 called finches, buntings, grosbeaks, or other names. All 

 of them have short, conical beaks adapted to crushing 

 seeds. Many kinds are useful to the farmer because they 

 eat so many weed seeds. In summer their diet includes 

 insects, which they also feed to their young. 



Many kinds of sparrows are streaked with brown, so 



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