FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 339 



stems, leaves, and frequently bark fibers are woven together, 

 and it is lined with finer materials of the same kind, often 

 with the addition of some animal hair or vegetable down. 



Here it raises its young, finds its food, and sings its 

 simple, sweet song, every note of which indicates a happy 

 disposition. Singing is a part of its nature, and even "a 

 suggestion of the bird's watery home shows itself in the 

 liquid quality of its simple, sweet note, stronger and sweeter 

 than the chippy's, and repeated many times almost like a 

 trill that seems to trickle from the marsh in a little riv^ulet 

 of song." 



The swamp sparrow is the handsomest of the smaller 

 sparrows and its habits are quite like those of the better- 

 known song sparrow — that delightful bird of the parks and 

 dooryards. From the song sparrow the bird of our illustra- 

 tion may be easily distinguished by the even color of the 

 plumage of the breast and the under side of the body, which 

 is entirely free from dark-colored streaks and a dark-brown 

 spot in the middle of the breast. 



As the swamp sparrow seldom leaves its home in the 

 marsh to seek food on cultivated grounds, it is, perhaps, of 

 less economic value than many other sparrows. About half 

 of its food consists of insects and the remainder is chiefly 

 seeds. 



FOX SPARROW 



The Fox Sparrow, the largest of our true sparrows, 

 breeds in Canada and winters from Virginia southward. It 

 is found in the Great Lakes region during March and 

 April, and we have it again in October, but it is less con- 



