A DAY’S OUTING IN SEARCH OF THE ARBUTUS. 57 
While we were resting on a steep, mossy bank near 
the highway and railroad crossing, a Hudsonian spar- 
row appeared much disturbed at our prolonged stay, 
and chirped in that sharp tone peculiar to this sparrow. 
These birds were very plentiful near the home of my 
boyhood, and I knew well their “tricks and their 
manners,” so I began at once to search for the cause of 
the disturbance. The female soon flew up from her 
nest in the side of the bank on which we had been sit- 
ting. The four eggs, beautiful as pearls, with pure 
white groundwork thickly dotted with brown, were 
rounder than the eggs of other sparrows. The nests, 
too, excel in workmanship and material those of any 
others of the genus. This nest was deep, and thickly 
lined with the softest of materials—a gem of architect- 
ure. A flat stone half a foot square, and held in place 
by an oak root, projected over the entrance to the nest, 
forming a perfect veranda, and completely shielding it 
from rain and shine. Fortunate, indeed, the little birds 
to be cradled in such a “lap of luxury!” These slate- 
colored juncos are conspicuous by theirmany white quills 
and feathers, and by their flesh-colored feet and bills. 
The lengthened shadows reminded us that there were 
other haunts of old acquaintances nearer the hotel yet 
to be visited. Among them were two pairs of phebes 
that have nested in the hotel barn for several years 
past. They have been intimate acquaintances, and I 
have watched them many a day from a seat in the 
spacious and pleasant old barn. None of them had yet 
returned. Last summer a young man, to show his cun- 
