196 
ORDERS OE BIRDS— PERCHERS AND SINGERS 
SNOW-BUNTING. 
cally without exception, all our Sparrows are 
diligent consumers of the seeds of noxious weeds. 
If you doubt the vocal powers of Sparrows go 
1 Jun'co hy-e-mal'is. Length, 6 inches. 
2 Spi-zel'la mon-ti-co’la. Length, 6 inches. 
AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. 
They come in flocks of from ten to twenty birds, 
and settle in the snow as if they love it. But for 
a few dark streaks on back and wings, they are 
the color of snow, and generally have the plump 
outlines which betoken good feeding and con- 
tentment. 
When you see this bird, remember that it 
belongs to the polar world, quite as much as the 
arctic fox and musk-ox, and in summer it goes 
to the “farthest north” on our continent. 
Rarely indeed does it breed in even the most 
northerly portions of the United States, and 
seldom enters a southern state. 
In winter the food of this pretty bird con- 
sists chiefly of the seeds of weeds that send tall 
fruit-stalks above the level of the snow. In our 
park grounds, we scatter wheat for it, on the 
tops of granite ledges from which the wind has 
blown the snow. 
The Slate-Colored Junco , 1 often called the 
Snow-Bird, is also a bird of the snow-fields; but 
it is a home product rather than a visitor from 
the desolate Barren Grounds. When seen on 
snow, its slaty-blue back makes it appear like 
a dark-colored bird, but underneath it is dull 
white. Like the snow-bunting, it goes in small 
flocks, and in winter feeds chiefly upon weed- 
seeds and grain. It breeds in our northern states, 
and in winter migrates southward almost to the 
Gulf of Mexico. Altogether, thirteen species 
and varieties of Juncos are recognized in North 
America, and they are at home all the way from 
Alaska to Mexico and the Gulf. 
The Sparrows. — There was a time when in 
America it was not only respectable but even 
honorable to be a Sparrow; but during the past 
ten years, the doings of one alien species, most 
unwisely introduced here have tended to bring 
the name into disrepute. How our native species 
must hate the interloper! But we protest that 
our native Sparrows are as sweet-voiced and 
interesting as ever they were; and as wholesale 
destroyers of noxious weeds, they are unsur- 
passed. After a careful investigation of the 
quantity of weed-seeds consumed in Iowa by 
the Tree-Sparrow , 2 Professor F. E. L. Beal 
calculated the total amount for one year to be 
1,750,000 pounds, or about 875 tons! Practi- 
