6 THE LOG OF THE SUN 



can hold the body of the bird in almost any posi- 

 tion, while the vainly hidden clusters of insect 

 eggs are pried into. Without ceasing a moment 

 in their busy search for food, the fluffy feathered 

 members of the flock call to each other, "Chick-a- 

 chick-a-dee-dee!" but now and then the heart of 

 some little fellow bubbles over, and he rests an 

 instant, sending out a sweet, tender, high call, a 

 "Phoe-be!" love note, which warms our ears in 

 the frosty air and makes us feel a real affection 

 for the brave little mites. 



Our song sparrow is, like the poor, always with 

 us, at least near the coast, but we think none the 

 less of him for that, and besides, that fact is true 

 in only one sense. A ripple in a stream may be 

 seen day after day, and yet the water forming it 

 is never the same, it is continually flowing onward. 

 This is usually the case with song sparrows and 

 with most other birds which are present summer 

 and winter. The individual sparrows which flit 

 from bush to bush, or slip in and out of the brush 

 piles in January, have doubtless come from some 

 point north of us, while the song sparrows of our 

 summer walks are now miles to the southward. 

 Few birds remain the entire year in the locality 

 in which they breed, although the southward 

 movement may be a very limited one. "When birds 

 migrate so short a distance, they are liable to be 

 affected in colour and size by the temperature 

 and dampness of their respective areas; and so 



