200 THE FRIENDSHIP OF NATURE 



some new grass is seeded, a motley, 

 haphazard group. A glance names 

 them j uncos and grasshopper-sparrows. 

 Juncos ! the last of a warm September; 

 surely it is very early, and some sharp 

 storm must have warned them. A 

 closer view shows that the birds are all 

 juncos, the males and females, the 

 others being unmoulted young, wearing 

 the stripes of the sparrow tribe. 



October comes, and Autumn handles 

 the shuttle more nervously; she has 

 sped here and there for fresh designs, 

 and now in a night weaves in great 

 masses of colour. Yesterday the maples 

 that follow the high river bank all 

 reddened at once; to-day, the night- 

 shade along the fence yellows, and the 

 smooth sumach has an extra coat of 

 varnish. A noise, like the croaking 

 of tree toads, comes from the nut- 

 hatches that are skirting the branches 



