THE YOUNG ORNITHOLOGIST. 



cold and stormy it was that morning 

 a little snow had fallen,) when a little 

 bird flew up, but wbat kind was it so 

 early in the season? It was the little 

 Yellow-winged Sparrow see'king con- 

 cealment among the weeds ; a few days 

 after more were seen, and still a week 

 later they were quite abundant. They 

 are strictly insect eaters, grasshoppers, 

 katy-dids and many kinds of bugs 

 fall to them as their prey, and are 

 borne away to their young. Their nest 

 is generally commenced by scratch- 

 ing a slight hollow in the ground, or 

 jn a tuft of old grass, then a neat 

 lining of fine grass, and in most cases 

 the nest is nearly arched over leaving 

 an opening in the side ; four eggs 

 consLitutes the set, though very near 

 all found this season contained five 

 eggs ; some four, and one contained 

 three eggs set on about two days. 

 The eggs are white, marked thickly 

 with spots of reddish brown and lilac ; 

 some form a wreath around the larger 

 end. When fiushed from the nest they 

 have a pecular flight that after once 

 known will never be mistaken. 



As the autumn draws near dozens 

 of these birds may be seen perched 

 on the wire of some pasture fence. 

 They remain w^ith us long into the 

 month of October, when they depart 

 for a more genial climate. 



G. F. Brenninger, 



Beattie, Kans. 



If our readers desire to pnrchase 

 anything advertised in our columns, 

 they can do so with perfect confi- 

 dence of being dealt fairly with, as we 

 will not insert the advertisements of 

 any but well known and reliable deal- 

 ers. 



the yellow-rumped war- 

 blp:r. 



This 

 lively 

 ,littl e 

 bird is 

 f o a n d 

 in New 

 E n g- 

 land in 

 the fall 



and winter. It is often seen in com- 

 pany with the Chicadees, Kinglets 

 and other winter visitants. 



It is supposed to breed occasionally 

 in New England. Minot says, — 

 "A nest which I found in south- 

 ern New England was somewhat 

 different, but contained three eggs, 

 which were white, marked with pur- 

 plish and brown and orange, .68x.50 

 of an inch. Dr Brewer describes them 

 as measuring about .75 x .55, of an 

 inch, and being white, or often bluish, 

 blotched and spotted with reddish- 

 brown, purple and darker shades of 

 brown." 



The adult male is slatey above, 

 specked with black ; below white, the 

 breast and sides heavily streaked 

 with black, throat pure white, bound- 

 ed by the black of the side of the 

 head and breast, supercilary lines 

 white. Rump, middle of crown and 

 sides of breast bright yellow ; two 

 white bars on the wings, large white 

 blotches on the tail. Length, 5.50 to 



6.00 inches. 



T. B. 



Dover, Mass. 



T. W. Denier has a large stock of 

 curiosities of all kinds on hand at very 

 low prices. See his advertisement 

 on the 12th page. 



