56 OUR SOUTHERN BIRDS 



Lucy Larcom, who wrote so tenderly of birds 

 and flowers, has left us this pretty verse about 

 the Field Sparrow: 



"One syllable, clear and soft 



As a raindrop's silvery patter, 

 Or a tinkling fairy-bell, heard aloft 



In the midst of the merry chatter 

 Of robin and linnet and wren and jay, — 



One syllable oft repeated: 

 He has but a word to say, 



And of that he will not be cheated. ' ' 



A pinkish bill and rather paler coloring dis- 

 tinguish this Sparrow from others resident in 

 the Southern states, as the Henslow and Pine- 

 woods Sparrows, which are not so common. 

 Henslow may be known by an olive green head 

 striped with black; he is seen most often in old 

 sedge-grass fields. The Pinewoods Sparrow 

 makes his home among pines and under scrub 

 palmettos, and even in summer does not venture 

 far north of Georgia. It is a famous songster, 

 said by some authorities to equal even the Thrush 

 in quality of tone. 



All our native Sparrows inhabit fields, plains, 

 and marshes, where their brownish streaks and 

 markings render them inconspicuous among the 

 usual growth. The various species are often dif- 

 ficult to distinguish at first; but so much indi- 



