THE HAWKEYE ORNITHOLOGIST AND OOLOGIST. 



69 



Its nest is placed upon the ground among 

 the grass or low bushes, and chiefly formed 

 of rine, dry grass. 



The eggs, four or five in number, are of 

 a grayish or bluish hue, spotted variously 



with light reddish brown 



In size and general plumage it much re- 

 sembles the song sparrow, but it has a bay 

 or chestnut patch on the crown of the head, 

 and by this and its manner of flight, and 

 notes, it can easily be distinguished at a 

 considerable distance. 



THE TREE SPARROW. 



(Spizella Monticola.) 



This species is more an irregular spring 

 and autumn visitant than a summer or a 

 winter resident, in central Ontario, though 

 it is more often seen in the winter months 

 than in the summer season. Some springs 

 it makes its appearance in this vicinity 

 early in March, and during the month of 

 April becomes quite numerous, when its 

 pleasing song notes are for a time among 

 the most conspicuous heard in the orchard, 

 grove, or by the wood-land side. Again, 

 other springs, it is quite scarce, and its stay 

 short, as it seems in a hurry to pass onward 

 to its summer home in more northern re- 

 gions. It does not nest in this Province, 

 but as it has been observed on the lower 

 St. Lawrence, and in Labrador, during the 

 summer months, it is supposed to rear its 

 young in those regions. It is also numer- 

 ous in the western territories of the Do- 

 minion as well as Alaska, where its nest 

 and eggs have been noticed. 



Its nest is usually placed in low bushes 

 or in tufts of grass, formed of fibers of 

 bark, grasses, hair and f eathei s. 



The eggs are four to six in the set, and 

 are of a light greenish hue, marked with 

 brownish spots. 



It feeds on many species of insects, and 

 various kinds of seeds. 



In length the Tree Sparrow is about six 

 inches. The plumage on the upper parts-is 

 variously marked with brownish, black and 

 bay, the wings having two conspicuous 

 cross bars; the lower parts are grayish 

 white; the breast has a dusky blotch, and 

 the crown a chestnut patch. 



Its range extends from the borders of 

 the Arctic ocean in summer to the south- 

 ern states, and eastern Kansas in the winter 

 season. 



[to be continued.] 



BIED PHILANTHROPISTS. 



^( OME birds are very charitable, it. seems. 

 jl^ At Dayton, on the Carson river, Neva- 

 da, a pair of robins built their nest on a 

 fence, near which stood a bush containing a 

 nest that belonged to a pair of cat- birds. 

 The young were hatched about the same 

 time, and all went well for several dajs. 

 But, in their eagerness to feed the young, 

 the ca t-birds tried to steal some bees. The 

 result was that the bee-keeper shot both the 

 old cat-birds. In a little while it became 

 evident to a boy who had been watching 

 the little comedies and tragedies of bird 

 life, that the young cat-birds were in dan- 

 ger of starving. But they did not starve, 

 for the neighboring robins discovered the 

 orphans in the bush and began to feed 

 them. Not only did they take many 

 worms to the young cat-birds, but at night 

 the male robin sat on the nest, his mate 

 hovering over the nest that contained the 

 young robins. In this way both broods 

 were reared, the catbirds growing to be as 

 strong as though cared for by their own 

 parents. For a long while the young rob 

 ins and cat-birds flocked together; but, 

 when full grown, they separated. — Golden 

 Days. 



