When I came down the ladder a little after sunrise, 
the Sparrows were assembled in front of the cabin but their 
seed was buried under four inches of damp snow. I swept 
off the bed and put out a fresh supply which the hungry birds 
attacked at once, but a few minutes later a Red-winged 
Blackbird plumped down in the middle of the bed and, 
scattering the Sparrows right and left , began eating greedily. 
He was quickly joined by others of his kind until no less 
than ten of the beautiful birds were clustered together 
devouring the seed. The Sparrows, meanwhile, were scattered 
about in the neighboring bushes, looking on with evident 
disgust. After a few minutes three of the Fox Sparrows (there 
were only five about to-day) plucked up courage and resumed 
their breakfast keeping, however, as far as possible from 
the Red-wings. The other Finches did not return to the seed 
until after the Red-wings had left. These are the first 
Blackbirds that I have ever had the pleasure of feeding here. 
There were fifteen Juncos, three Tree Sparrows, four or five 
Song Sparrows and one Swamp Sparrow in front of the cabin 
during the day. 
/fT 
