10 ON EE af 
A passenger even worse belated than this 
warbler was a chipping sparrow that I found 
hopping about the edge of the Beacon Street 
Mall on the 6th of December, seven or eight 
weeks after all chippers were supposed to be 
south of Mason and Dixon’s line. Some ac- 
cident had detained him doubtless; but he 
showed no signs of worry or haste, as I walked 
round him, scrutinizing every feather, lest he 
should be some tree sparrow traveling in dis- 
guise. : 
There is not much to attract birds to the 
Common in the winter, since we offer them 
neither evergreens for shelter nor weed patches 
for a granary. I said to one of the gardeners 
that I thought it a pity, on this account, that 
some of the plants, especially the zinnias and 
marigolds, were not left to go to seed. A lit- 
tle untidiness, in so good a cause, could hardly 
be taken amiss by even the most fastidious tax- 
payer. He replied that it would be of no use; 
we hadn’t any birds now, and we should n't 
have any so long as the English sparrows were 
here to drive them away. But it would be of 
use, notwithstanding; and certainly it would 
afford a pleasure to many people to see flocks 
of goldfinches, red-poll linnets, tree sparrows, 
and possibly of the beautiful snow buntings, 
feeding in the Garden in midwinter. 
