2 Nelson on Door- Yard Birds of the Far North . 



immediate vicinity of the houses, the sponge-like mosses, cover- 

 ing all the surrounding country, have retreated fifty or sixty yards 

 and given place to a belt of luxuriant grasses, which, in turn, 

 makes way in places in favor of dense patches of weeds. From 

 the north-eastern to the southern side the sea approaches to 

 within thirty yards, the grassy slope ending abruptly at a beach 

 formed of dark, angular fragments of basalt; this, with a hard- 

 trodden court-yard, absolutely bare of vegetation, and a small 

 kitchen-garden, completes the immediate surroundings. On 

 distant hillsides a few patches of dark green show where small 

 groups of hardy alders have secured a foothold, beyond which, 

 excepting a few dwarf willows, not a bush raises its head for 

 many miles. 



To all appearances, not a very tempting locality for birds, 

 would be one's decision at first sight : but a closer acquaintance 

 will prove the contrary. Some cheerless morning in May, on 

 the border line between winter and spring, as we walk about 

 the buildings, we are greeted by the sharp /.v//>. tsip., of the Tree 

 Sparrow which lias arrived over-night and now holds possession 

 of the weed patches, whence it makes foraging expeditions into 

 the yard, ready to skurry back to its stronghold upon the least 

 alarm. As the weather becomes milder, their number is aug- 

 mented, and. in company with the plump, rosy-breasted little 

 Redpoll, they are seen every where, from the top of the wind- 

 vane to the kitchen window, whence they peep in from the 

 sundial. As the snow decreases the Tree .Sparrows slowly 

 retire, pre-empting summer houses in the alder bushes, where 

 they hold possession by right of numbers ; they are not. however, 

 too conservative to share their haunts with inoffensive strangers. 

 The Redpolls also now seek more congenial haunts, and are soon 

 lost to view. Meanwhile the Savanna Sparrows have arrived 

 and enliven the borders of the numerous muddy spots sur- 

 rounding the place, running in and out. mouse-like, among 

 the dead grass, as they playfully pursue each other. At the 

 first alarm they dive into the cover of standing weeds and grass 

 only to reappear, a moment later, on the further side. As the 

 season advances, the males mount the woodpile or other con- 

 spicuous object to pour forth their weak, unmusical notes, which 

 they at times also utter from the ground. 



Gambel's Finch now makes its appearance, and, capturing the 



