138 SONG SPARROW, 
SPARROWS, FINCHES, ETC. (FAMILY FRINGILLIDZ.) 
This, the largest family of birds, contains between five 
hundred and fifty and six hundred species, and is repre- 
sented in all parts of the world except the Australian re- 
gion. Sparrows are the evergreens among birds. When 
the leaves have fallen from the chestnut, oak, and maple, 
the hemlock, pine, and cedar are doubly dear. So, when 
the Flycatchers, Warblers, and Thrushes have left us, the 
hardy Sparrows are more, than usually welcome. Feed- 
ing largely on seeds, which their strong, stout bills are 
especially fitted to crush, they are not affected by the 
changes in temperature which govern the movements of | 
strictly insectivorous birds. | 
Some species are with us throughout the year, some 
come from the South in early spring and remain until 
snow falls, others come from the far North to pass the 
winter; so that at no season of the year are we without 
numbers of these cheery birds. Fortunately, some of our 
best songsters are members of this family. Their music 
is less emotional than that of the Thrushes, but it has 
a happier ring—the music for every day. 
It is the Song Sparrow who in February opens the 
Sparrow, Season of song, and it is the Song 
Melospiza fasciata. Sparrow who in November sings its 
Fame ZOE, closing notes ; nor, except during a part — 
of August, has his voice once been missing from the choir. 
His modest chant always suggests good cheer and 
contentment, but heard in silent February it seems the 
divinest bird lay to which mortal ever listened. The 
magic of his voice bridges the cold months of early 
spring ; as we listen to him the brown fields seem green, 
flowers bloom, and the bare branches become clad with 
softly rustling leaves. 
