Birds by Land and Sea 



its nests in high trees, and during its winter sojourn 

 in England shows a decided partiality for perching 

 in such a position, especially toward evening, never- 

 theless sleeps upon the ground. The redwing 

 manifests no such peculiarity, nesting and sleeping 

 in bushes of moderate dimensions like a true thrush. 

 I observed about this time that the house- 

 sparrows began to collect feathers, scraps of paper, 

 and the like, and one couple had discovered that the 

 plaster which joined the roof-slates to the base of the 

 chimney-stack in a neighbouring house had fallen 

 out, and were busy carrying in materials to add 

 luxury to the competent warmth thus provided. 

 The house-sparrow is a long-headed bird, but he 

 had evidently failed in this instance to reflect that a 

 gap of this sort with a northerly aspect would 

 probably be plastered up when the first snow-storm 

 had driven in sufficient snow to melt through the 

 ceiling. However, as it was a nice question who 

 was my neighbour under the circumstances, I 

 decided to treat them both alike, and, as I was 

 unable to warn the sub-tenant, so also I would 

 refrain from warning the tenant-in-chief. 



