THE BIRD-LIFE OF A YEAR. 



29 



Yellow Palm Warbler.* 

 Brown Creeper. f 

 Golden-crowned Kinj^let.f 

 Ruby-crowned Kinglet.* 

 Winter VVren.f 

 Gray-cheeked Thrush.* 



Early October generally brings the first killing 

 frost, de]iriving insectivorous birds of a large part 

 of their food, and of necessity forcing them to 

 journey southward. Flycatchers, Warblers, Yireos, 

 and Swallows now take their departure, and after 

 the fifteenth of the month few insect-eating birds 

 remain, except tliose which, like Woodpeckers, 

 feed on insects' larva3 or eggs. 



This is the season of Sparrows. In countless 

 numbers they throng old stubble, potato, or corn 

 fields, doing untold good by destroying the seeds 

 of noxious weeds. Song, Field, Chipping, and Ves- 

 per Sparrows may be found in flocks, all harvesting 

 the year's crop of seeds, and Avith them will be the 

 lately arrived Juncos, Tree and Fox Sparrows. 

 "When disturbed, they seek shelter in the nearest 

 hedgerow, and their mingled notes produce a twit- 

 tering chorus, in which it is difficult to distinguish 

 the voices of individual birds. 



This, however, Avill not be the only bird music 

 of the month. Certain species now have a brief 



* Transient Visitant passing further south, 

 f Winter Visitant. 



