About the House. 45 



made of grasses and small twigs lined noticeably with long horse hairs. Gen- 

 erally located near the ground, it is often found ten to twenty feet above it. 

 The eggs are blue green, dotted and marked with red and dark brown or 

 black. They are three to five in number, rather less than three quarters of 

 an inch long-, and half an inch in their smallest diameter. 



The salient characteristics of the adult birds are, a black bill and fore- 

 head, a chestnut brown crown, a.nd £'ray rimip. The tmder parts are of ashy 

 gray, the throat whiter. Very young birds have the breast streaked or spot- 

 ted with dark brown, almost black, have a lighter colored bill, lack the fore- 

 head markings and chestnut crown. They soon pass from this stage to the 

 second plumage, which lacks the breast markings, but is otherwise similar to 

 the first stage. In all phases of plumage the ashy color of the rump will 

 serve as a great aid in identifying the bird. 



The Chipping Sparrow ranges west to the Rocky Mountains, north to the 

 Great Slave Lake. It breeds from the Gulf States throughout its range, and 

 winters in its more southern breeding grounds. 



A yellow bird, with black wings, a bar of white across them, a black cap 

 on his head, and a black tail when closed, but showing the white inner webs 



American Gold- 



when spread, the rest bright lemon yellow, — such is the 

 finch. Goldfinch, 



spinus tristis(Linn.). Tliis is the plumage of the old male in summer. The 



female at the same season is much duller ; the wings and tail are dusky, the 

 black cap above is lacking, the yellow of the back and head is suffused with 

 brownish, and below, the ground color, obscure white, is washed with buffy 

 and brown tinged with yellow, especially on the throat. In winter, the sexes 

 are more alike, the male having lost the black cap and being generally ob- 

 scured with brownish over the yellow, but still having the tail and wings 

 black, though not so bright as in summer. The young resemble the female 

 bird. 



The American Goldfinch is a small bird averaging rather more than 

 five inches long, and has a very characteristic flight, wave like and undu- 

 lating. 



These birds are eminently gregarious, going in flocks of varying sizes, 

 except during the breeding season. Thistles and sunflowers, and in fact 

 almost any seed plant, attract them and furnish their food supply. They 

 breed rather later than most of our birds, building a bulky nest of strips of 



