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, having little 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 country, 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-wing 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 Southern States, whence they return to us in the spring. But there are four other species which come from the northward to winter
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