FIELD SPARROW. 
251 
brier ; lines 'it with horse hair ; lays six eggs, so 
"'iekly sprinkled with ferruginous, as to appear alto- 
?^ther of that tint; and raises two, and often three, 
“*'|>od in a season. It is more frequently found in the 
'**''ldle of fields and orcliards than any of the other 
*l’*cies, which usually lurk along hedgerows. It has 
Jo song, hut a kind of chirruping, not much different 
’’oin the chirpings of a cricket. Towards fall, they 
^senrhle in loose flocks, in orchards and corn fields, in 
!?0rch of the seeds of various rank weeds ; and are 
Ofin very numerous. As the weather becomes severe, 
''^flh deep snow, they disappear. In the lower parts 
North and South Carolina, I found this species in 
."'Ititudes in the months of January and February. 
Jhen disturbed, they take to the bushes, clusti'ring so 
J'ose ton-ether, that a dozen may easily be shot at a 
“'"e. 1 continued to see them eijually numerous 
“‘'■ough the whole lower parts of Georgia ; from whence, 
^‘^•'ordino- to Mr Abbot, they all disappear early in the 
^Pfivig. 
. None of our birds have been more imperfectly 
’’'^seribed than that family of the finch tribe usually 
^"ed sparrows. They have been considered as too 
'i^ig-nificaiit for particiibar notice, yet they possess 
’^’•^tinct characters, and some of them peculiarities; well 
''*^rthv of notice. They arc innocent in their habits, 
*^’*l*aistinD- chiefly on the smiill seeds of wild plants, and 
j‘*<loni injuring the property of the farmer. In the 
'‘teary season 'of winter, some of them enliven the 
hfosijcct by hopping familiarly about our doors, humble 
^^^asioners on the sweepings of the threshold. 
1 The present sjiecies has never before, to my know- 
p?e, been described. It is five inches and a quarter 
and ei"-ht inches broad ; bill and legs, a reddish 
JJ-^aamon colour ; upper part of the head, deep chestnut, 
."''ided by a slight streak of drab, widening as it goes 
; cheeks, line over the eye, breast, and sides under 
a® Wings, a brownish clay colour, lightest on the chin, 
darkest on the ear feathers; a small streak of 
*’®Wn at the lower angle of the bill ; back, streaked 
