THE INVITATION. 239 



movement, showing two white quills in the tail. The 

 traveler along the country roads disturbs them earth- 

 ing their wings in the soft dry earth, or sees them 

 skulking and flitting along the fences in front of him. 

 They run in the furrow in advance of the team, or 

 perch upon the stones a few roads off. They sing 

 much after sundown, hence the aptness of the name 

 vesper-sparrow, which a recent writer, Wilson Flagg, 

 lias bestowed upon them. 



In* the meadows and low wet lands the Savannah 

 sparrow is met with, and may be known by its fine, 

 insect-like song. In the swamp, the swamp-sparrow. 



The fox-sparrow, the largest and handsomest spe- 

 cies of this family, comes to us in the fall, from the 

 North, where it breeds. Likewise the tree or Canada 

 sparrow, and the white-crowned and white-throated 

 sparrows. 



The social-sparrow, alias " hair-bird," alias " red- 

 headed chipping-bird," is the smallest of the sparrows, 

 and, I believe, the only one that builds in trees. 



The finches, as a class, all have short conical bills, 

 ,vith tails more or less forked. The purple finch 

 heads the list in varied musical ability. 



Beside the groups of our more familiar birds which 

 I have thus hastily outlined, there are numerous other 

 groups, more limited in specimens but comprising 

 some of our best known songsters. The bobolink, 

 for instance, has properly no congener. The famous 

 mocking-bird of the Southern States belongs to a 

 genus which has but two other representatives in the 



