46 
BIRDS 
I have even come within a few feet of 
one without seeming to excite his fear or 
suspicion. He is quite unsophisticated, 
or else royally indifferent. 
Without any exception, his plumage is 
the richest brown 1 am acquainted with 
in Nature, and is unsurpassed in the 
qualities both of firmness and fineness. 
Notwithstanding the disparity in size and 
color, he has certain peculiarities that re¬ 
mind one of the Passenger-Pigeon. His 
eye, with its red circle, the shape of his 
head, and his motions on alighting and 
taking flight, quickly suggest the resem¬ 
blance; though in grace and speed, when 
on the wing, he is far inferior. His tail 
seems disproportionately long, like that 
of the Red Thrush, and his flight among 
the trees is very still, contrasting strongly 
with the honest clatter of the Robin or 
Pigeon. 
Have you heard the song of the Field- 
Sparrow? If you have lived in a pas¬ 
toral country with broad upland pastures, 
you could hardly have missed him. Wil¬ 
son, I believe, calls him the Grass-Finch, 
and was evidently unacquainted with his 
