Sparrow, Tree 



This bird has ever been a favorite of mine, not because 

 there is so much of him as so much of them. It is a case 

 where one is not as good as a hundred, but just the oppo- 

 site, and a hundred, fortunately, are easier found than 

 one. Nuttall speaks of two or three singing together. 

 I have heard a full chorus, and it is then music that makes 

 you forget the "deadness" of the season. 



ABBOTT. Birds About Us. 27 



The tree sparrow is a striking illustration of the good 

 done by seed-eating birds, for Professor Beal has calculated 

 that in Iowa alone this little bird destroys eight hundred 

 and seventy-five tons of noxious weed-seeds every year. 



FLORENCE A. MERRIAM. Birds of Village and Field. 1 

 SPARROW, VESPER. BAY-WINGED BUNTING 



There are few grassy fields, I imagine, where this bird 

 is not found, and you are not likely to mistake it, for it 

 shows two white feathers in its tail when flying. It is 

 a ground bird the greater part of each day, and chirps 

 when startled, like any other " chippy"; but it is a master 

 musician for all that, and, singing at or after sundown, 

 has been aptly called the vesper-sparrow. 



ABBOTT. Birds About Us. 27 



The vesper sparrow likes a drier field than the song 

 sparrow, and is especially noticeable for the trick of run- 

 ning along the path or the road directly in front of the 

 traveler. 



TORREY. Every Day Birds. 18 



140 



