SPARROAVS. 
419 
chievous and troublesome, differing in this respect from ours, 
■which are all very harmless little creatures. With us they have 
no price ; they are neither bought nor sold ; their plumage, voice, 
and flesh, haAang httle to recommend them to the dangerous 
favor of man. We have many varieties belonging to different 
seasons and situations ; all varying from the Eastern bird of the 
same family. The plain little chipping-sparrows are good friends 
with us all, found through the summer about every garden in the 
countr}^, the very tamest of our birds, running in the paths we 
tread ourselves, and scarcely moving out of our way, as we come 
and go. The song-sparrow, very like the chipping-bird in size 
and plumage, is one of the earliest of our singing-birds. We are 
all familiar with its pleasing note ; it is the only one of its tribe 
that has a fine voice. Then there is the swamp-sparrow, which 
passes the summer along the water-courses of the Northern States, 
and -winters on the rice plantations of the South. The Savannah, 
or coast-sparrow, again, is chiefly found near the sea-shore. It 
is a pretty bird, but unknown among our hills. The yellow-Aving 
is a small species, with a faint note, said to be the least numerous 
of its family ; this autumn, however, we saw a little flock flitting 
about for half .an hour among the shrubbery. The field-sparrow 
is the smallest of all its tribe, and a migratory bird here ; it lives 
more in the open fields, and less along fences and hedges, than its 
brethren. The bay-wing, or grass-bird, again, is only seen in our 
meadows in summer, though found through the winter near New 
York. All these varieties either linger in small parties in the 
lower counties during the cold weather, or proceed to the South- 
ern States, whence they return to us in the spring. But there 
are fom- other species which come from the northward to winter 
