OUR COUNTRY LIFE 



morning he ate seventy-one seeds without even stopping 

 to drink. For beside the food dish stood a saucer of 

 gravel enclosing a shallow basin of water renewed 

 daily. He always drank in a leisurely fashion, often 

 returning to the seeds with apparently new appetite. 

 His hunger appeased, he would fly from the sill di- 

 rectly to the top of the nearest bush below and fling 

 into the air his thrilling notes. 



Any sudden movement in the room while he was 

 feeding sent him leaping from the board, but he finally 

 learned that the movement of a hand in writing, even 

 within two feet of him, meant no harm. This oppor- 

 tunity to study the markings of a song sparrow, his 

 bright beady eyes, his shapely body, his rapid motions, 

 was eagerly accepted and enjoyed. The nuthatch and 

 the chickadee found plenty of food in the deep woods 

 by the first week in June, so abandoned the window-sill 

 to the catbirds and song sparrow. Late in July an un- 

 usual commotion informed me that two sparrows had 

 been feeding on the sill; that is, one drove the other 



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