BIRD ODDITIES 289 



dom that the tcndcr-hcartcd lady took the cage 

 to an open window in the chamber and released 

 it, little expecting to see her pet again. 



The Junco at once joined a flock in the yard, 

 and to all appearances was very happy in the 

 society of its own kind. The cage, with the door 

 ajar, was left by the open window and when the 

 shades of evening began to fall, the signal for 

 bedtime in bird-land, the little fellow, leaving 

 the flock, flew to the open window, entered the 

 cage and went to sleep on its accustomed perch. 

 This was repeated every night until the season 

 was well advanced, when it finally joined a 

 company of Juncos on their way south. 



The next spring when the northern migration 

 again brought a flock of these birds to her yard, 

 the lady placed the cage by the open window 

 with the faint hope that if her old friend chanced 

 that way it would at least make a brief call. 

 That very night a Junco came and slept in the 

 cage and continued to return every night as long 

 as flocks of Juncos were about; but with the ap- 

 proach of the mating season, when all the family 

 started for the northern nesting grounds, it 

 disappeared and did not return again. 



The query naturally arises, was this the same 

 bird that occupied the cage the previous fall or 

 a stranger that chanced along .^ While it is difli- 

 cult to positively identify individual birds, yet 

 it seems there can be little doubt in this case; for 

 if it was not the same bird why did it leave the 

 flock to seek so unusual a resting place .f* 



The whole question of the return of birds to 

 familiar localities is a highly interesting one, and 



