294 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



Like the shrikes, the one arrives in the Middle West when the 

 other is departing for the South, and returns to the north 

 when the other is returning from the south. It comes and re- 

 turns with its cousin, the junco, and frequents sheltered hol- 

 lows, thickets, and hedgerows near to springs or streams of 

 water. Its breeding range and habits of incubation seem to 

 be imperfectly known. It is known, however, that its breed- 

 ing range extends from Maine to Labrador, and that its nest 

 is built on or near to the ground, of grass, rootlets and hair, 

 and that from four to five pale green eggs, blotched with 

 various shades of brown, constitute a set. 



The adult male and female tree sparrow are alike in ap- 

 pearance, except that the female is the smallest. The upper 

 mandible is black and the lower yellow ; iris of eye, brown ; 

 upper part of the head, reddish-brown, sometimes slightly 

 skirted with gray ; from the nostril over the eye passes a white 

 stripe, fading into pale ash as it extends back ; sides of head 

 and neck, ash gray, lighter on the throat; back and primaries, 

 grayish buffy broadly streaked with black ; middle and greater 

 wing coverts edged with rufous and tipped with white, form- 

 ing two conspicious bars ; tail, forked and dusky gray ; sides, 

 flank and underneath parts, whitish mixed with pale brownish; 

 legs a brownish clay color ; feet black. 



Mr. Bicknell says they have two call notes, the customary 

 "chip" and "a low double note, which is uttered mainly while 

 the birds are feeding," and Mr. Chapman says, "they are so- 

 ciable birds, with apparently the best of dispositions. They 

 are usually found in small companies, each member of which 

 seems to have something to say. Watch them feeding on an 

 old weed stalk left uncovered by the snow. It bends beneath 

 the weight of half a dozen birds, but, far from attempting to 

 rob one another, they keep up a conversational chatter, be- 

 speaking the utmost good fellowship. 'Too-la-it, too-la-it,' 

 each one calls, and I have only to remember this note to bring 

 clearly to mind a bright winter morning with fresh snow 

 crystals sparkling in the sunshine and in the distance a tink- 

 ling chorus of tree sparrows at breakfast." I quote this para- 

 graph at length because it seems to me to fit well with a late 

 experience of my own. 



