SONQ SPARROW. 



groups of three or four ; they have a special liking for 

 the roadside. Mr. Ned Dearborn reports having seen 

 three "sports" of this species, all similar, having heads 

 and necks partly white. 



Song Sparrow The Song Sparrow is the flower of his 

 *JinHa Z meiodia familv ' a musician of exceptional ability, 

 L. 6.35 inches and the possessor of a character remark- 

 A II the year able for its cheerfulness under all con- 

 ditions of weather. But in appearance he is one who 

 could never take the prize in a Bird Show I It is 

 true his spots betoken a "marked" appearance, but 

 the marks are not distinguished ones; his qualities sur- 

 pass his charms. Head ruddy brown with a sugges- 

 tion of a median gray line; the region of the eye gray 

 tinged with brown; a red-brown line behind the eye; 

 back light brown streaked with darker brown; sides of 

 the light gray throat marked with a chain of blackish 

 or dark brown spots; no wing-bars; breast spotted with 

 wedge-shaped streaks of sepia and red-brown some of 

 which are confluent in the central region forming a dis- 

 tinct dark blotch; under parts almost white. The sexes 

 are similarly marked. The loosely built nest is formed 

 of dried rootlets and leaves, shreds of bark, coarse 

 grasses, and sometimes hair; within it is lined with 

 similar but softer material; it is usually found on the 

 ground, or sometimes low down in a bush. The egg is 

 blue- white and generously splashed with brown. This 

 Sparrow is common everywhere and breeds from Vir- 

 ginia northward. 



Mr. Chapman sums up the estimable qualities of the 

 interesting, cheery little songster as follows: " its readi- 

 ness to adapt itself to the different conditions in each 

 of the regions it inhabits, its numerical abundance 

 and steady increase while some of its family are dying 

 out, its freedom from disease and vermin, and its peren- 

 nial good spirits evidenced by its never-failing music 

 all proclaim that it is indeed one of Nature's successes.'* 

 That is an ornithologist's estimate of this greatly favored 

 Sparrow, and certainly we ought to be very grateful for 

 the facts, as this is the bird that sings best of all sings 

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