RUSTLING WINGS 1 75 



then twisted and moved by jerks as if 

 running on the ground. By the twenty- 

 fifth of the month they had all dis- 

 appeared, except the phoebes and 

 least flycatchers, and the next day a 

 gust of titmice and snowbirds filled 

 their places. 



The vesper-sparrow, the well-known 

 grass finch, "flies with a quick, sharp 

 movement, showing the two quills in 

 his tail. " The junco shows these white 

 quills still more plainly. In the gray 

 morning twilight, when I noticed his 

 return, his ashy form might have passed 

 unnoticed, but for these telltale white 

 stripes. 



As the foliage thins, the woodpeckers 

 come more under the observation. The 

 red-headed woodpecker was here yes- 

 terday, and to-day the creepers have 

 been circling the crooked apple tree 

 close by the house. The black and 



