156 NOTES BY THE WAY. 



the hens are here. So far as I have observed, the 

 robin and the bluebird win their mates by gentle and 

 fond approaches ; but certain of the sparrows, nota- 

 bly the little social sparrow or " chippie," appear to 

 carry the case by storm. The same proceeding may 

 be observed among the English sparrows, now fairly 

 established on our soil. Two or three males beset a 

 female and a regular scuffle ensues. The poor bird 

 is pulled and jostled and cajoled amid what appears 

 to be the greatest mirth and hilarity of her auda- 

 cious suitors. Her plumage is plucked and ruffled, 

 the rivals roll over each other and over her, she ex- 

 tricates herself as best she can, and seems to say or 

 scream " no," " no," to every one of them with great 

 emphasis. What finally determines her choice would 

 be hard to say. Our own sparrows are far less 

 noisy and obstreperous, but the same little comedy in 

 a milder form is often enacted among them. When 

 two males have a tilt they rise several feet in the 

 air, beak to beak, and seek to deal each other blows 

 as they mount. I have seen two male chewinks fac- 

 ing each other and wrathfully impelled upward in 

 the same manner, while the * female that was the 

 boon of contention between them regarded them un- 

 concernedly from the near bushes. 



The bobolink is also a precipitate and impetuous 

 \* ooer. It is a trial of speed, as if the female were 

 to say, " Catch me and I am yours," and she scur- 

 ries away with all her might and main, often with 

 three or four dusky knights in hot pursuit Whej 



