26 
OUR HOME BIRDS. 
little houses are dotted around everywhere, and are 
frequently occupied by other birds who happen to get 
there first.” 
“ I’d turn ’em out,” exclaimed Malcolm, looking as 
quarrelsome as if he were a martin who had just been 
deprived of his lawful residence. 
“ Battles of this kind often do take place,” con- 
tinued Miss Harson, “ for birds do not always ‘ in 
their little nests agree,’ but are often very quarrelsome 
little creatures. We shall come to some of these 
difficulties by and by ; just now we are on the look- 
out for the earliest bird. This, as people very gene- 
rally seem to think, is the song-sparrow, a little bird 
about six inches long, with a brown back streaked 
with pale, dull yellow and black, a brown tail round- 
ed at the end, flesh-colored legs, and dark-brown 
wings. A very unpretending little personage indeed, 
so far as appearance goes ; but one who knows him 
well says: 
“ ‘ It is the first singing bird in spring, taking prece- 
dence even of the pewee and the blue-bird. Its song 
continues occasionally during the whole summer and 
fall, and is sometimes heard even in the depth of 
winter. The notes or chant are short, but very sweet, 
resembling the beginning of the canary’s song, and 
frequently repeated, generally from the branches of 
a bush or small tree, where it sits chanting for an 
