40 BIRD-LAND ECHOES. 



first lesson in ornithology. I have long since learned 

 that this little sparrow, in spite of its name, is not a 

 snow-bird in a literal sense. It comes to us early in 

 October and is here, off and on, until the grass 

 begins to get green again, and sometimes later. I 

 say "off and on," for this trite expression best 

 describes the bird's movements about my present 

 home. They certainly follow the whim of the mo- 

 ment and are not influenced by the weather, except 

 mechanically, for a violent wind sweeping across the 

 fields will drive them to the protected thickets in the 

 meadows, and sometimes I have failed to find them 

 even there. But this is true of nearly all our small 

 birds. They have the good taste to detest a windy 

 day. Snow-birds are likely to be abundant with 

 the mercury below zero ; again, when it is summer- 

 hot, as were some days in December, 1895, tne 7 

 may be here by the hundreds ; and then in a whole 

 week or more of moderate weather, of pleasant sun- 

 shine, and of gentle breezes not one is to be seen. 

 These erratic movements cannot be explained by 

 the question of food-supply. The conditions in this 

 respect are fixed in winter, and birds in February 

 appear to find quite as much to eat as they did on 

 their first appearance in the early autumn. There 

 seems to be no one set of conditions or character 

 of surroundings that is peculiarly attractive, beyond 

 the fact that they prefer the open country. I find 

 them often on the edge of the woods, but seldom 

 far down their leafy depths. I have always looked 

 upon them as birds of the fields and garden, and yet 



