WHEN THE DAYS BEGIN TO LENGTHEN 



ors from the slaty junco, the ' snow-bird ' more 

 commonly known. They are indeed the only 

 birds we have that are nearly white; and rarely, 

 if ever, do they rise far above the ground their 

 plumage so admirably imitates."* 



The merry little creatures have discovered a 

 tract that was seed-strewn this morning for the 

 benefit of needy feathered folk. And now juncos 

 join them and a brownish gray stranger alights 

 among them. This stranger is a bird who has 

 appeared several times at my restaurant since the 

 great snow-storm set in; the only one of its kind 

 I have ever seen in the grove, and a good deal of 

 a puzzle to me when I at first sighted it. I 

 thought the creature was an overgrown, freak- 

 ishly colored sparrow until I discovered that it 

 walked instead of hopping. A female cow-bird 

 it proves to be, evidently a waif, whom stress of 

 circumstances has driven to my winter tavern. 

 You may imagine that this lady was an unex- 

 pected guest, especially at this season. What- 

 ever charges one may bring against her during 

 the nesting period, no fault can be found with 

 her behavior at the restaurant. She pays no at- 

 tention to matters that do not concern her; she 



* Neltje Blanchan, in Bird Neighbors. 



[109] 



