96 THE Brrps Axsout Us. 
This sparrow builds its nest on the ground, laying 
pretty white eggs with a goodly sprinkling of reddish- 
brown. 
A group of sparrows known scientifically as 
the Ammodramt, includes some migratory species, 
and the Grasshopper-finch, that loves to twitter 
from the lower rails of an old worm-fence, is one 
of them. Seen at a little distance you might not 
distinguish it from some of our other and even 
commoner ones, but if you caught a glimpse of the 
bright-yellow bend of the wing you could make no 
mistake. What a queer little wheezy song it has! 
Not much louder than the squeak of a mouse, and 
suggestive of the grasshopper’s stridulation; hence 
one of its common names. Like the grass-finch, it 
nests on the ground. 
Going to the sea-coast and following the imme- 
diate shores of the rivers until the water ceases to 
be brackish, and sometimes where it is quite fresh 
but still tide-water, you will find two very interesting 
sparrows. The larger one and most prominent gen- 
erally is the Sharp-tailed Finch, or “ Quail Head,” as 
it is sometimes called. It is a quick-motioned bird 
that climbs as readily through reedy growths as it 
flies over them, and can run with a mud-hen’s speed 
over the mud. Nuttall says they cannot sing, but 
their nesting-day twitter, heard in the marshes, where 
we have so little music, is not so harsh as he inti- 
mates. A great deal in bird music depends upon 
association. After a day on the sea-shore with but 
the grating of a gull’s cry in your ear, the lively 
twitter of a sharp-tailed finch is certainly refreshing. 
