4 Nelson on Door-Yard Birds of the Far North. 
weed patches, chirping and frolicing as merrily as though adorned 
with the most brilliant hues. They invest the Redoubt, flitting 
from place to place ; one moment see-sawing on a tall weed, the 
next, hopping carelessly along the walk before you or peering from 
the eaves with an odd expression of lilliputian gravity. In return 
for this good-natured familiarity they are prime favorites with all. 
They do not, however, come unattended, for, in the yard, or 
outside of it, wherever a bare spot of ground is seen, are con- 
gregated parties of young Lapland Longspurs, which are nearly 
as careless of our presence as the Redpolls; they are, however, 
more sedate and business-like, and appear solely intent upon 
gormandizing. They run from place to place with their bills 
pointing downward, their eyes intently scanning every inch of 
ground, oblivious to their surroundings until a p'assing footstep 
starts them away to a short distance, where they resume their 
search for food. They have none of the pretty confiding ways 
of the Redpoll and consequently awaken but little interest. 
The young Yellow Wagtails ( Budytes flava') are also now 
numerous, searching, with a jaunty air, damp spots in and near 
the yard for insects, their tails constantly oscillating as though 
their owners were trying to maintain an ever changing equipoise. 
When the tide goes down they gather along high-water mark to 
feast upon the fare there provided. Flitting from rock to rock, 
or picking their way daintily from place to place, they afford a 
pleasing picture, until, their hunger satisfied, they rise, and, 
uttering a sharp metallic note, pass one after the other to their 
haunts upon the bare hillside, where they remain until the calls 
of appetite allure them back again. 
The garden, meanwhile, has been the centre of attraction for 
various species of Warblers which revel among the insects found 
in the lettuce and turnip beds. The Black-capped Flycatcher 
is the most numerous though at times the Black-capped 
Warbler is about equally common. A Yellow Warbler at times 
enlivens the place, like a ray of sunshine ; peering into the crevi- 
ces of the fences, with an occasional foray among the spiders 
and other insects along the eaves of the houses, are seen the 
young of the Golden-crowned and the Kennicott’s Warblers. 
From the wet paths leading away from the houses, or, at times, 
even from the yard itself, are started stray Water Wagtails ( Slur us 
ncevius ) and Titlarks. 
