18 BIRDS OF THE GARDEN AND ORCHARD. 



pleasant days in June or July, at nightfall we hear mul- 

 titudes of them singing sweetly from many different 

 points in the fields and farms. 



THE HAIR-BIRD. 



A gentle and harmless little bird, attracting attention 

 chiefly by his tameness and familiarity, chirping at all 

 hours, but without a very melodious song, is the Hair- 

 Bird, belonging to the family of Sparrows, but differing 

 from all the others in many of his habits. He is one of 

 the smallest of the tribe, of an ashen-brown color above and 

 grayish-white beneath. He wears a little cap or turban 

 of velvety-brown upon his head, and by this mark he is 

 readily distinguished from his kindred. Eelying on his 

 diminutive size for security, he comes quite up to our 

 doorstep, mindless of the people who are assembled near 

 it, and, fearless of danger, picks up the scattered crumbs 

 and seeds. His voice is not heard in the spring so early 

 as that of the Song-Sparrow and the Bluebird. He lives 

 chiefly upon seeds, though like other granivorous birds 

 he feeds his young with larvae. This is a general practice 

 among the seed-eaters, in order to provide their young with 

 soft and digestible food. Nature has provided in a differ- 

 ent manner, however, for the Pigeon tribe. The parent 

 bird softens the food in its own crop before it is given to 

 the offspring. From the peculiar manner in which the 

 young are fed comes the expression " sucking doves." 



It is common to speak disparagingly of the Hair-Bird, 

 as if he were good for nothing, without beauty and with- 

 out song. He is despised even by epicures, because his 

 weight of flesh is not worth a charge of powder and shot. 

 Though he is contemptuously styled the " Chipping-Spar- 

 row," on account of his shrill note, this name I shall 

 never consent to apply to him. His voice is no mean 

 accompaniment to the general chorus which may be heard 



