HOME BIRDS 8i 



passes over. Perhaps he may pause for a moment 

 on the topmost branch of some tall tree and sing 

 a bar or two; but soon he is off again — "Creak, 

 creak." 



Just where he goes one cannot say. Nor can one 

 tell when he will come. He is like a restless traveler, 

 ever on the go and not content to stay long at one 

 place. ' 



About the middle of May he gives up his roving 

 life for a time and settles down to housekeeping. 

 If we have evergreens on our lawn, he may honor 

 us by accepting one as a site for his nest of twigs, 

 grasses and rootlets with its lining of fine hairs. 



The four to six eggs are blue, spotted about the 

 larger end with blackish. 



All the young birds, whether male or female, will 

 wear the streaked sparrow-like plumage of their 

 mother ; but the whitish line over the eye will always 

 distinguish them from any of our real sparrows. 

 The young male wears his streaked costume through 

 the winter and the following spring dons the rosy 

 dress of the mature bird. 



