CHANGES IN HERMIT - LIFE 



be added to the list, but they are erratic 

 birds, and cannot be depended upon. 



My route to the city was along the deserted 

 old highway. When I had climbed the first 

 hill (where my new cabin now stands), I could 

 overlook a rugged territory where the fire 

 and axe had exterminated the large trees, 

 leaving a low, shrubby growth, just suited to 

 the needs of the birds. The songs of the 

 catbird, towhee-bunting, and robin were heard 

 here, and, strange to tell, in a distant corner 

 of the territory, could be heard the loud carol 

 of the song-sparrow. A few pairs of these 

 birds had changed their nesting site from 

 pasture to shrub-land. I knew that these 

 sparrows were descendants of my pet birds, 

 Wabbles and his first wife. They were born 

 in the woods, and so reared their children in 

 the same surroundings. 



The frog-pond was just beyond the hill, 

 and when the toads and frogs did not drown 

 their music, birds could be heard singing from 

 morning till night during the nesting season. 



There was a colony of Maryland yellow- 

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