CHAPTER IX 



THE FAMILY OF FINCHES AND SPARROWS 



WITH the exception of the Warbler 

 family, that of Finches and Sparrows 

 is one of the largest. Some of this 

 family are our best known birds, coming in the 

 early spring and remaining with us until the 

 last migrating birds are going. Some only visit 

 us in the spring and fall on their way back and 

 forth from their nesting places farther north. 

 Others spend their winters with us and make 

 the Arctic regions their summer home. The 

 birds of this family are both insect eating and 

 seed eating. Though they devour the seeds of 

 many noxious weeds they do not touch culti- 

 vated grain and are most useful on the farms. 

 The only objectionable Sparrow we have is the 

 European species. 



Of our native Sparrows, the little Chipping 

 Sparrow, noticeable among the others by its 

 brownish mahogany head, is the most familiar. 

 These little birds are always very tame, and, if 

 there are not too many European Sparrows, 

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