White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis

The White-throated Sparrow, an Almanac

• The White-throated Sparrow is counted, in these parts, a great one for other folk's business.
• Upon dissection, Dr. Fothergill determined that the organ of acquisitiveness is, in this species, uncommonly enlarged.
• There is a stone in Quahog Neck churchyard the White-throated Sparrow will not light upon.
• Those up the holler will tell you that the bird remembers a stone thrown in temper long after the man who gave it is gone.
• Folks down the salt marsh hold that the White-throated Sparrow's cry before noon foretells a quiet reversal, and after it, a hard frost.

Folklore, invented on the spot — not to be believed.