228 



CITIZEN BIRD 



his summer home is so far north or so high on moun- 

 tains tliat few visit him in the tangled woodlands 

 where he sings a pretty trilling song to his mate, 



"When I was a boy here at the Farm, these white- 

 vested Juncos were my winter pets. A flock was al- 

 ways sure to come 

 in October and stay 

 until the last of 

 April, or even into 

 May if the season 

 was cold. One win- 

 ter, when the snow 

 came at Thanks- 

 giving and did not 

 leave the ground 

 until March, the 

 birds had a hard 

 time of it, I can 

 tell you. The Rob- 

 ins and Bluebirds 

 soon grew discour- 

 aged, and left one 

 by one. The Chick- 

 adees retreated to 

 the shelter of some 

 hemlock woods, and I thought the Winter Wrens were 

 frozen into the woodpile, for I did not see any for weeks. 

 The only cannibal birds that seemed to be about were 

 a pair of Cat Owls that spent most of the time in our 

 hay-barn, where they paid for their lodgings by catch- 

 ing rats and mice. 



" But my flock of Juncos were determined to brave 



Slate-colored Junco. 



