FIELD SPARROW. 
251 
of a brier ; lines it with horse hair ; lays six egg’s, so 
thickly sprinkled with ferruginous, as to appear alto- 
gether of that tint ,* and raises two, and often three, 
brood in a season. It is more frequently found in the 
middle of fields and orchards than any of the other 
species, which usually lurk along hedgerows. It has 
no song, but a kind of chirruping, not much different 
from the chirpings of a cricket. Towards fall, they 
assemble in loose flocks, in orchards and corn fields, in 
search of the seeds of various rank weeds ; and are 
then very numerous. As the weather becomes severe, 
with deep snow, they disappear. In the lower parts 
of North and South Carolina, I found this species in 
multitudes in the months of January and February. 
When disturbed, they take to the bushes, clustering so 
close together, that a dozen may easily be shot at a 
time. I continued to see them equally numerous 
through the whole lower parts of Georgia; from whence, 
according to Mr Abbot, they all disappear early in the 
spring. 
None of our birds have been more imperfectly 
described than that family of the finch tribe usually 
called sparrows. They have been considered as too 
insignificant for particular notice, yet they possess 
distinct characters, and some of them peculiarities, well 
worthy of notice. They are innocent in their habits, 
subsisting chiefly on the small seeds of wild plants, and 
seldom injuring the property of the farmer. In the 
dreary season of winter, some of them enliven the 
prospect by hopping familiarly about our doors, humble 
pensioners on the sweepings of the threshold. 
The present species has never before, to my know- 
ledge, been described. It is five inches and a quarter 
long, and eight inches broad ; bill and legs, a reddish 
cinnamon colour; upper part of the head, deep chestnut, 
divided by a slight streak of drab, widening as it goes 
back ; cheeks, line over the eye, breast, and sides under 
the wings, a brownish clay colour, lightest on the chin, 
and darkest on the ear feathers; a small streak of 
brown at the lower angle of the bill ; back, streaked 
