THE SNOWBIRD. 315 



middle of July ; therefore two broods are probably reared. 

 The nests are constructed of fine grasses and leaves, and 

 are placed sometimes in a slight hole scratched in a mossy 

 knoll, sometimes in an old stump of a tree or in a tuft of 

 grass in a thicket of bushes. The eggs are usually four in 

 number : they vary in color from nearly pure-white with 

 reddish spots, to grayish-white with reddish-brown spots, and 

 bluish-white with a roseate tint and spots of umber, reddish- 

 brown, and lilac. Dimensions vary from .76 by .60 inch to 

 .70 by .56 inch. 



The description by Wilson of the habits of this species is 

 so full and accurate that I can do no better than give it 

 here : 



"This well-known species, small and insignificant as it may 

 appear, is by far the most numerous, as well as the most extensively 

 disseminated, of all the feathered tribes that visit us from the frozen 

 regions of the North, their migrations extending from the arctic 

 circle, and probably beyond it, to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, 

 spreading over the whole breadth of the United States, from the 

 Atlantic Ocean to Louisiana ; how much farther westward, I am 

 unable to say. About the 20th of October, they make their first 

 appearance in those parts of Pennsylvania east of the Alleghany 

 Mountains. At first they are most generally seen on the borders 

 of woods among the falling and decayed leaves, in loose flocks of 

 thirty or forty together, always taking to the trees when disturbed. 

 As the weather sets in colder, they approach nearer the farm-house 

 and villages ; and, on the appearance of what is usually called fall- 

 ing weather, assemble in larger flocks, and seem doubly diligent in 

 searching for food. This increased activity is generally a sure prog- 

 nostic of a storm. When deep snows cover the ground, they 

 become almost half domesticated. They collect about the barn, 

 stables, and other out-houses, spread over the yard, and even round 

 the steps of the door, not only in the country and villages, but 

 in the heart of our large cities ; crowding around the threshold 

 early in the morning, gleaning up the crumbs ; appearing very lively 

 and familiar. They have also recourse, at this severe season, when 

 the face of the earth is shut up from them, to the seeds of many 



