OF NEW ENGLAND. 213 
*85 X 65 of aninch.” “Their ground-color is a light green,” 
*‘ freckled with minute markings of a foxy brown.” — 
(c). With the exception of the Snow-birds, the Tree Spar- 
rows are the most regular in appearance of all the finches who 
visit us in winter, but who pass the summer in a colder climate. 
They are, moreover, more or less common during their spring 
(and fall) migrations. They first make their appearance in 
Eastern Massachusetts in the last week of October, or the 
first of November, but many are then on their way to the 
South. In the last part of the latter month they become com- 
mon, and continue to reside here throughout the winter. They 
usually go about in small flocks, sometimes, however, in pairs 
or singly, but, when such is the case, several may usually be 
found in the same immediate neighborhood. They feed en- 
tirely (?) upon various seeds, and consequently spend their 
time mostly in fields where the weeds are not entirely covered 
by the snow,—in vegetable-gardens where the stubble of the 
summer’s crop, or the withered asparagus-stalks, furnish them 
with food,—or in the roads and on the roadsides. When on 
the ground, the Tree Sparrows are quite nimble, which is highly 
consistent with their mode of life, since they generally feed 
when on the ground itself, though they sometimes perch upon 
the tops of weeds, and still more. often may be seen in trees, 
frequently collecting in apple-trees. They prefer open grounds, 
and rather avoid the neighborhood of houses, though I have 
known one to join Snow-birds who were feeding on a piazza. 
They are not usually shy, and, indeed, I have seen them in 
village-streets, and have at other times approached within five 
yards of them, when occupied in picking up their food. When 
frightened, they do not dive into thickets or bushes as some 
other sparrows do. Their flight when short is low, when long 
is high, but at all times is rapid. The Tree Sparrows do not 
mingle much with other species, but seem to prefer one anoth- 
er’s society, generally living in peace, though occasionally an 
unpleasantness takes place, when a brief combat ensues. In 
April they return to the North, but those who have passed the 
winter further to the southward than Massachusetts return at 
