SPARROWS 323 



glass to bear on it, I found that it was almost steadily 

 eying me and was all alive with excitemenf . 



March 20, 1859. P. M. — I see under the east side of 

 the house, amid the evergreens, where they were shel- 

 tered from the cold northwest wind, quite a parcel of 

 sparrows, chiefly F. hy emails, two or three tree sparrows, 

 and one song sparrow, quietly feeding together. I watch 

 them through a window within six or eight feet. They 

 evidently love to be sheltered from the wind, and at 

 least are not averse to each other's society. The tree 

 sparrows sing a little. One perches on a bush to sing, 

 while others are feeding on the ground, but he is very 

 restless on his perch, hopping about and stooping as if 

 dodging those that fly over. He must perch on some 

 bit of stubble or twig to sing. They are evidently pick- 

 ing up the seeds of weeds which lie on the surface of 

 the ground invisible to our eyes. They suffer their 

 wings to hang rather loose. The F. hyemalis is the 

 largest of the three. They have remarkably distinct 

 light-colored bills, and when they stretch, show very 

 distinct clear- white lateral tail-feathers. This stretching 

 seems to be contagious among them, like yawning with 

 us. They have considerable brown on the quill-feathers. 

 The tree sparrows are much brighter brown and white 

 than the song sparrow. The latter alone scratches once 

 or twice, and is more inclined to hop or creep close to 

 the ground, under the fallen weeds. Perhaps it deserves 

 most to be called the ground-hiid. 



April 8, 1859. These windy days the sparrows resort 

 to the pines and peach trees on the east side of our 

 house for shelter, and there they sing all together, — 



