1 4 INTR OD UCTION. 



near by, the cheering voice of the Song Sparrow may 

 sometimes be heard, sounding peculiarly gentle and 

 melodious in contrast to the quarrelsome winter 

 chatter of the English Sparrow. Now and then, too, 

 the sweet sad call of the Bluebird stirs our hearts with 

 its promise of spring. 



Transient feathered visitors also brighten the winter 

 days. Once I had the delightful surprise of discover- 

 ing a flock of northern Pine Finches filling a sapling 

 at the corner of i6th and U Streets, and showing their 

 yellow wing marks as if to prove their identity. 

 Another day I came face to face with a flock of 

 Horned Larks at the intersection of New Hampshire 

 Avenue and T Street, calmly taking a promenade on 

 the asphalt. 



Towards spring one's calendar has many red letters. 

 As I look back, one of the brightest is the day when 

 from a tree opposite the Treasury the first spring carol 

 of the Robin arrested my steps and magically trans- 

 formed the noisy city streets into quiet countryside, 

 as a sudden burst of sunshine illuminates a dull land- 

 scape. Bound with this memory is the first sight of 

 the jolly Crow Blackbirds on the Agricultural grounds 

 taking constitutionals among the dandelions to the de- 

 light of all beholders. Then come the evenings when 

 from the sidewalk one hears the faint sweet chirpings 

 of homeward bound travellers passing overhead, even- 

 ings followed by days when Golden Warblers awaken 

 one with their summery song, little visitors drop into 

 the city parks, the leafing trees ring with the happy 

 songs of bands of Goldfinches, and the woods and 

 fields are filled with new joyful life to attract one to the 

 country. 



