30 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 



come and feed the young while I w^as standing on a 

 Umb but a few feet below them. The two alternated 

 in excavating the place for the nest, and both assisted 

 in clearing it out each spring. All chips and refuse 

 were carried away, that they might not betray the 

 neighborhood of the nest. The male often brought 

 food to his mate, although he took his place on the 

 nest when she was away. The whole family, old and 

 young, remained in the neighborhood and in company, 

 and at the fall migration went south together. The 

 fourth summer, just before the young birds were able 

 to fly, a boy in the neighborhood shot one of the old 

 ones, and the other continued the care of the brood. 

 The tree was never again occupied as a nesting place. 

 I have long been satisfied that several species of our 

 song birds not only mated for the season, but for life. 

 Such was certainly the case with this pair. Dr. C. C. 

 Abbott, in a late charming book, " Waste Land 

 Wanderings," devotes several pages to this interesting 

 subject, being convinced from long and careful observa- 

 tion that many birds remain mated as long as both 

 live. 



Another interesting summer resident in this region 

 is the Savanna sparrow {Passerculus Savanna). They 

 make their appearance in this latitude about the middle 

 of April and remain until October. These sparrows 

 are not so plentiful nor so generally distributed as the 

 song or vesper sparrows, but, like certain plants, they 

 seem to have their favorite localities to which they are 

 much attached. There are whole townships in which 



