At the Water's Edge 



flock of sandpipers. Many of the species in 

 this family are as much alike as some of the 

 sparrows, and hardly admit of discrimination, 

 except by the aid of a little powder and shot. 



Running about in the salt grass was a species 

 that occupies the debatable ground between 

 land and water birds — one of the sea-side spar- 

 rows, the sharp-tailed finch; in anatomy and 

 appearance a thorough land bird, and even in 

 the " song group ; " but with as much partiality 

 for water as some of the genuine water fowl, 

 and perhaps never found far from shore. 



While beauty and, with few exceptions, 

 musical excellence are not conspicuous features 

 in sparrows, it is certainly interesting to note, 

 in this large class of closely related birds, 

 such a degree of individuality as is shown in 

 their different tastes in regard to habitat; some 

 preferring our temperate climate, and others go- 

 ing into the Arctic regions ; some abiding in 

 the fields and the upland pasture, a few resort- 

 ing to the swamps, and still others found al- 

 most exclusively among the salt marshes along 

 the coast. Of this last-named sort are the sea- 

 side and the sharped-tailed finches, and the 

 savannah sparrow — in general appearance quite 

 alike, but with dissimilar head-markings, and 

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