The Birds' Calendar 



this species go south every fall. Less brilliant 

 than the " red-poll," it is hardly less dressy, in 

 black and white, with four yellow spots, on head, 

 sides, and rump. The first three are variable, 

 sometimes wanting, but the persistence and 

 prominence of the fourth spot gives the name 

 to the species. This has the habit of perching 

 and flying higher than most of the family ; and 

 there is nothing more aggravating than to have 

 a small specimen which you are unfamiliar with 

 remain near the top of a tree, move about in- 

 cessantly, and, just as you have reached a coigne 

 of vantage, coolly fly off out of sight. 



One morning, in a driving rain-storm, I start- 

 ed out to explore the upper and less frequented 

 part of the Park. With an ardor that my moist 

 surroundings could not dampen, it was still 

 especially gratifying to find something new, for 

 I soon discovered a (to me) unfamiliar species 

 of nuthatch, the red-breasted. The only other 

 one in this region, the white-breasted, can gen- 

 erally be found in all our woods through the 

 ^vinter, and the red -breasted are probably rarer 

 only in the sense that they winter farther south, 

 and are with us a shorter time. If the white- 



