158 Mr. Peabody on the 
and the village, in the field and the garden, in the 
forest and at the house-door. After passing the win- 
ter in the southern states, it returns early in the 
spring. It has no pretension to song, though, when 
it first returns, it keeps a continuous jingling sound, 
unlike the chipping note to which it owes its name. 
At the close of summer, the old and young birds 
search for seeds in the fields in large flocks, col- 
lected in preparation for their flight. The first snow 
fall is their signal for disappearing. 
This little sparrow, in order to escape from worse 
enemies, places its nest under the care of man. It 
builds in the sides of walks, the corners of piazzas, 
or some spót equally open to observation ; and s0 
strong is it confidence, that, if the nest is torn down, 
it regards it as an accident, and builds in the same 
place again. It adopts these sheltered situations, 
with a view, no doubt, to escape from cuckoos, 
which would steal all its eggs if they were exposed 
in the woods. 
The Fiery Sparrow, Fringilla pusilla, resem- 
bles the species last described, but is brighter in 
color and has a longer tail. With us, after the first 
of April, it is found in open fields and pastures, 
where it lives on insects and seeds. The song i$ 
peculiar and likely to attract attention, not so much 
from its sweetness, as its canary-like trill. Its nest 
is built on the ground, after the fashion of most 
other sparrows, and made of hay, with a lining of 
fine grass or horse-hair. The eggs are so thickly 
sprinkled with rusty brown as to appear almot 
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