70 



CITIZEN BIBB 



2. Summer Citizens. The families that, though they are 



with us but six or eight months 

 of the year, make their homes 

 here, and pay their rent and 

 taxes by working for the com- 

 mon good. As they are ahnost 

 all insect-ea,ters, they are even 

 more useful than the stay-at- 

 home Citizens, who are chiefly 

 seed-eaters or cannibals. 



3. Winter Visitors. The birds who come down from 



the North in severe weather, but 

 do not stay in one place for 

 any particular time, arriving one 

 day and disappearing the next. 

 They glean for their scanty 

 board and return to the cold 

 countries, of which they are 

 Citizens, before nesting-time." 



" Please tell me the names of some of the birds that 

 live here all the time," said Nat. " Have I seen any 



yet?" 



" I think the Bluebird, the Robin, and the Song Spar- 

 row are Citizens," said Rap, '' because last winter I used 

 to see one or two almost every day, unless the snow and 

 ice were very thick." 



" Yes," said the Doctor, " the Bluebird is a Citizen in 

 the Middle and Southern States, and the Robin also. 

 But in the more northerly parts they are Summer Citi- 

 zens, returning early and staying late. But the Song 

 Sparrow is a Citizen almost everywhere, and is known 



