WOOD NOTES WILD. 41 



and fervor of the singer, never fails to touch the heart 

 of the listener. The chipping sparrow sings at all hours, 

 sometimes waking in the dead of night to perform his 

 staccato serenade; but the evening twilight hour is his 

 favorite time. If we have a vesper sparrow, it is he. 



None of our birds are more social and confiding. 

 These sparrows come for the crumbs about the door, 

 and with little coaxing will light on your hand for them ; 

 and if there be vines over the doorway, you will be quite 

 likely to find the lady's nest in them, maybe only a few 

 inches above your head as you go in and out. They 

 prefer a bush for their summer home, but I have sev- 

 eral times known them to build their beautiful hair-lined 

 nests in a heavy-boughed spruce, ten or more feet from 

 the ground. 



