dence and Miscellaneous Papers," &c. (3 vols. 8vo, 1832). " The American Almanac and Re- pository of Useful Knowledge" was founded by Mr. Sparks, who edited the first volume, for 1830. He was also the editor of the "Li- brary of American Biography" (first series, 10 vols. 18mo, 1834-'8; second series, 15 vols., 1844-'8), several of the lives in which were written by him. In 1840 he completed the pub- lication of " The "Works of Benjamin Franklin, with Notes and a Life of the Author" (10 vols. 8vo). He then visited Europe a second time, and discovered in the French archives the fa- mous map with the red line drawn upon it, about which so much was afterward said in the debates upon the Ashburton treaty in con- gress and parliament. In 1852 two pamphlets were printed by him in defence of his mode of editing the writings of Washington, in reply to the strictures of Lord Mali on and others, and a similar pamphlet the next year, occasioned by a reprint of the original letters from Wash- ington to Joseph Reed. In 1854 he published " Correspondence of the American Revolution, being Letters of eminent Men to George Wash- ington, from the time of his taking command of the Army to the end of his Presidency, ed- ited from the Original Manuscripts " (4 vols. 8vo). Mr. Sparks was McLean professor of history at Harvard college from 1839 to 1849, and president of the college from 1849 to 1853. His life, by G-. E. Ellis, was published in 1869. SPARROW, the familiar name of many small birds of the finch family, and the old genus fringilla (Linn.), which has been numerously subdivided by modern ornithologists ; the fam- ily characters have been given under FINCH. Among the many American species may be mentioned three distributed under three differ- ent genera. The white-crowned sparrow (zono- trichia leucophrys, Swains.) is about 7 in. long and 10 in. in alar extent ; the body is stout, bill SPARROW 229 White-Crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys). conical, feet robust, the second and third quills longest, and the tail rather long and moderate- ly rounded; the chin, throat, and breast are nearly uniform ashy; the head above black; median and superciliary stripe pure white ; a narrow black line through and behind the eyes; back and wing coverts dark reddish brown with paler margins; quills and tail darker ; wings with two white bands ; whitish below ; bill reddish orange tipped with brown ; lower lid white. It is found from the Atlantic to the Rocky mountains and from Labrador to Texas, breeding far to the north ; the notes are mellow and cheering, six or seven in number, the first loud and clear, and thence becoming fainter and more plaintive ; eggs five or six, I in. long, light sea green with brownish mot- tlings at the larger end ; the nest is on the ground or among moss, and the eggs are laid in Labrador from the 1st to the end of June. The flight is low, but swift and long protracted; the migrations are performed mostly by day ; the food consists of seeds, berries, minute shell fish, and insects. The genus spizella (Bonap.) differs from the last in its smaller size and longer forked tail. The chipping sparrow (S. socialis, Bonap.), commonly called chip bird, is 5 in. long and 8% in. in alar extent; the rump, back of neck, and sides of head and neck are ashy ; the back has black streaks with pale rufous edgings; the crown is uniform chest- nut, the forehead black with a white median line, a white streak over the eyes and a black one from the bill through and behind the eyes ; white below, tinged with ashy on the upper breast ; tail and primaries with paler edgings, and two narrow white bands across wing cov- erts ; bill black ; in the young the crown has narrow blackish lines, and the upper breast and sides are streaked with brown. It inhabits North America from ocean to ocean, very com- mon everywhere, except in woods, in spring, summer, and autumn, going south in winter ; it is very social, is found with almost every other species of sparrow, and is so familiar as to enter yards and even piazzas for food. The nest is never made on the ground; the eggs are four or five, f- by -| in., greenish blue, with slight brown spots at the larger end, and rath- er pointed at the smaller. The notes are six or seven rapidly repeated and loud "cheeps ;" the flight is short, irregular, and rather low. They are the most numerous of the sparrows in New England, but arrive some weeks later than the song sparrow. The genus melospiza (Baird) differs from zonotricJiia in the shorter and more graduated tail, longer hind toe, short- er and more rounded wings, longer tertiaries, unspotted under parts, and streaked crown. The song sparrow (M. melodia, Baird) is 6|- in. long and 8|- in. in alar extent ; the general tint above is rufous brown, with dark brown streaks and grayish edgings ; crown rufous, with su- perciliary and median stripe of dull gray ; white below, breast and sides streaked with dark rufous; no distinct white on wings or tail. It is found from the eastern coast to the high central plains, and is abundant in the south, where it raises three broods, making a new nest for each. Though not so handsome as some other sparrows, its song is much sweet- er, prolonged, and heard at all hours of the
