74 KRIDER'S SPORTING ANECDOTES. 



feather marked along the outer edge with small 

 spots of pale brown, and ending in narrow tips, 

 of a pale drab color above, and silvery white be- 

 low ; lining of the wing, bright rust ; legs and 

 feet, a pale reddish flesh color; eye, very full 

 and black, seated high and very far back in the 

 head ; weight, five ounces and a half, sometimes 

 six. 



"The female is twelve inches long, and eigh- 

 teen in extent ; weighs eight ounces ; and differs 

 also in having the bill very near three inches in 

 length ; the black on the head is not quite so 

 intense; and the sides under the wings are 

 slightly barred with dusky." 



The Breeding Grounds. You are in the 

 country in the month of March, and chance to 

 be standing on an eminence in front of a low 

 meadow, flanked by a wood. 



Although the weather has been mild for the 

 season, yet something in the prospect before 

 you, grounded upon the experience of the past, 

 inclines you to think the winter is not yet over. 



The snows no longer whiten the valley ; the 

 stream has burst from its icy bounds ; but the 

 tyrant king of the north is not yet dethroned, 

 and the face of nature still wears an aspect of 

 austere and desolate gloom. No songster's note 



