THE COMING OF THE BIRDS. 53 



Prolonging my morning walk for some distance 

 I saw five song sparrows, three bluebirds, two 

 herring gulls, four robins, a meadow lark, a 

 pigeon woodpecker, and a pair of sparrow 

 hawks. The latter showed unmistakably by 

 their love-making that they were paired for the 

 season. They were in a grove of lofty hard- 

 wood trees, in the hollow of one of which they 

 have nested for several years. 



For my Saturday afternoon walk I chose the 

 belt of rough country north of the Lexington 

 Branch Railway, between Arlington village and 

 Great Meadow in Lexington. Leaving the 

 train at East Lexington, I crossed the lower end 

 of Great Meadow and aimed for the pine-crested 

 ledges to the north and east. On these low- 

 lands I saw two song sparrows and six tree 

 sparrows in company. A blustering and cold 

 wind was blowing, and the birds kept close to 

 cover. The tree sparrows allowed me to come 

 within six or eight feet of them, in preference 

 to flying. In the midst of ploughed and ditched 

 meadow land was a cup-shaped hollow filled 

 with a frozen bog. Red maples grew in it 

 thickly, and under them a group of alders. As 

 i passed this spot, the roaring wind almost led 

 me to ignore a sharp squeak of alarm from a bird 

 which was scratching in the leaves on the edge 

 of the hollow. Fortunately I heard it, and fol- 



