136 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 



wood not far from Harvard, and here we saw five Downys, a Flicker, 

 and a Blue Jay all in one tree. It seemed very lively there for a few 

 minutes. A little farther on we saw two juncos. Up to this time we 

 had been practically in the city. We had never been out of sight of rail- 

 roads or electric cars, and yet we had seen twelve species of birds. 

 But now we boarded a car and began rapidly to leave the city behind. 

 We stopped when about half way to our final destination and wandered 

 through the swamps and low lands, everywhere meeting little bands of 

 Tree Sparrows. Often we saw Song Sparrows, and in one place, on 

 hearing a familiar sound, we realized that one of them was singing to 

 us. This was a very welcome sound, and indeed, as that handsome 

 little bird sat singing on the topmost branch of a low bush, he must 

 have been trying to tell us of spring. 



We left the song sparrow reluctantly, and soon after I was startled, 

 as I always am, when a Rufifed Grouse flew up ten feet in front of me. 

 We took another car from here and went into the genuine country. We 

 passed farms and pastures, and began to see real chickens here and 

 there. In a favorable place we ate our lunch, on a bench set up under 

 a great oak tree, evidently for our special benefit. While we were eat- 

 ing some crows flew around, betraying great curiosity, so we left as 

 much lunch for them as we could spare, and started off to see some 

 more birds. Out here, there were more signs of approaching spring 

 than in the city. In one small wooded swamp, we saw several "skunk 

 cabbages," some actually growing up through the snow. We had 

 scarcely left these plants when we saw on the ground some gray furry 

 pellets. There was about ten of them, and in vain we wondered what 

 they were. At last my friend broke one open, and found two little 

 skulls and some bones tightly packed inside; and, it dawned on us that 

 this was an owls home. So putting a few of these in our bag for a 

 more careful investigation, we passed on. By the side of an old road, 

 we saw some juiicos which we watched for some time. They flew up 

 as we approached uttering the twitter which they make in flight, and all 

 disappeared behind some rocks in a meadow. We followed slowly and 

 found that they were eating seeds. Soon they flew up to a friendly 

 apple tree where we left them. This ended an unusually delightful day. 

 We had seen fifteen species, three of which sang, and as we were near- 

 ing home, we noted that the moon had a golden ring, and we were 

 thankful for having had such fine weather all day. When I awoke next 

 morning everything was white with snow. 



Guy Emerson, Brookline. Mass. 



