66 THE RETURN OF THE NATIVES. 



This is the first day of the " chippy " on these 

 grounds, although the hooks say he should have 

 been here three weeks ago. Perhaps these few 

 individuals are tardy from lingering too long 

 around more southern doorsteps and locomotives. 

 One " teeters " on a young oak spray very near, 

 and ripples the air with his sharp cricket-like voice 

 and rapidly vibrating tongue. What a wee bit of 

 feathers to wing his way so far from his Southern 

 home, and what an interesting journey, if the true 

 history of it could be written ! 



At what particular date did he first feel the 

 migratory impulse strong enough to begin the 

 flight northward ? What dooryards did he visit ; 

 the streets of what villages or cities did he forage 

 through ? Is this the locality he has remembered, 

 and where he intends to build his nest, or has he, 

 under his chestnut crown, the memory of a snug 

 little spot a hundred miles farther east or north ? 

 These are some of the questions that are put to 

 my adventurous little stranger, but he only lifts 

 his head and shakes from his ashen breast the 

 answer into such broken fragments as to make it 

 altogether unintelligible. 



In company is one bird with the same family 

 resemblance, but with such different specific man- 



