FAMILY Fringillldte. 



that he is a greater insect destroyer than a crop de- 

 stroyer. 



Family Fringillidce. 

 FINCHES, SPARROWS, GROSBEAKS, ETC. 



This is the largest and most important family of birds; 

 important not only because its members are common in 

 all parts of the country, if not the whole world, but also 

 because they are, to a certain extent, our best common 

 songsters. The list includes some excellent vocalists 

 which are surpassed only by the Thrushes, viz. : Purple 

 Finch, Evening Grosbeak, Goldfinch, Vesper Sparrow, 

 White-crowned Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Field 

 Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Che wink, Rose- 

 breasted Grosbeak, and Indigo Bunting. These are no 

 ordinary singers, and if we should include the more 

 southern Cardinal Bird, our American list would be be- 

 yond comparison the most musicianly one in the world ! 

 The Song Sparrow alone is unexcelled in variety of song- 

 motive and in accuracy of pitch. 



The family is distinguished for its broad, stout, conical 

 bills, which are strongly built for hard work on gravelly 

 soil where seeds are usually distributed, and for the 

 crushing of the seed-coating or shell. The development 

 of such a bill as this has been instrumental in giving a 

 certain character to the voice. That of the Rose-breasted 

 Grosbeak is a notable instance; it is modified and mel- 

 lowed by the large cavity of the beak. 



As the family is chiefly dependent upon seeds for its 

 sustenance, many members are not so migratory as 

 they would be did their diet consist wholly of insects. 

 The Sparrow tribe is also one with distinctive ground 

 habits, and its mixed brown coloring is admirably pro- 

 tective ; especially so is the light, neutral tinting of the 

 under parts which compensates for the otherwise con- 

 spicuous shadow of the dark figure.* 



*This remarkable adaptive coloring of birds and animals has 

 been a subject of special study by the artist Mr. Abbott Thayer, 

 whose lectures on this topic are supremely instructive and 

 interest Lag. 



73 



