THE SNOWBIRD. BL 
middle of July; therefore two broods are probably reared. 
The nests are constructed of fine grasses and leaves, and 
are placed sometimes in a slight hole scratched in a mossy 
knoll, sometimes in an old stump of a tree or in a tuft of 
grass in a thicket of bushes. The eggs are usually four in 
number: they vary in color from nearly pure-white with 
reddish spots, to grayish-white with reddish-brown spots, and 
pluish-white with a roseate tint and spots of umber, reddish- 
brown, and lilac. Dimensions vary from .76 by .60 inch to 
.10 by .56 inch. 
The description by Wilson of the habits of this species 1s 
so full and accurate that I can do no better than give it 
here: — 
“This well-known species, small and insignificant as it may 
appear, is by far the most numerous, as well as the most extensively 
disseminated, of all the feathered tribes that visit us from the frozen 
regions of the North, — their migrations extending from the arctic 
circle, and probably beyond it, to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, 
spreading over the whole breadth of the United States, from the 
Atlantic Ocean to Louisiana; how much farther westward, I am 
unable to say. About the 20th of October, they make their first 
appearance in those parts of Pennsylvania east of the Alleghany 
Mountains. At first they are most generally seen on the borders 
of woods among the falling and decayed leaves, in loose flocks of 
thirty or forty together, always taking to the trees when disturbed. 
As the weather sets in colder, they approach nearer the farm-house 
and villages ; and, on the appearance of what is usually called fall- 
ing weather, assemble in larger flocks, and seem doubly diligent in 
searching for food. This increased activity is generally a sure prog- 
nostic of a storm. When deep snows cover the ground, they 
become almost half domesticated. They collect about the barn, 
stables, and other out-houses, spread over the yard, and even round 
the steps of the door, not only in the country and villages, but 
in the heart of our large cities; crowding around the threshold 
early in the morning, gleaning up the crumbs ; appearing very lively 
and familiar. They have also recourse, at this severe season, when 
the face of the earth is shut up from ‘them, to the seeds of many 
