FOX-COLORED SPARROW. 



PASSERELLA ILIACA. 



" I ^HESE song-loving sparrows have sweet voices and a 

 -* pleasing song. No sparrow sings with a better 

 quality of tone. They reach Massachusetts, on their 

 journey north, generally by the tenth of April. They 

 come in small flocks, tame birds, and partial to the 

 ground. They scratch among the low bushes, often in 

 the fresh snow, rising frequently a few feet to sit and 

 sing ; they also sing upon the ground. They are our 

 largest sparrows ; fine-looking birds, with reddish backs 

 somewhat like those of the brown thrush. 

 Song of the fox-colored sparrow : 



