October 20, 1902 - Monday. 
This morning about 10sS"0 [ went over towards 
the fair grounds. It was warm and pleasant. As 
1 started two redbreasted nuthatches lit on the 
top of a Norway spruce in Miss Gattiker’s yard 
and ran about as though looking for something to 
fight in the regular nuthatch manner. They chased 
each other around calling harshly ratch ratch . One 
flew out and fought an English sparrow that 
happened to be passing upon no provocation whatever. 
Juncoes were very thick in the thickets. On 
every side I could hear their subdued trills which 
occasionally broke all restraint and bubbled out 
in rippling warbles that reminded me of spring with 
its myriad tinkling brooklets. Their soft greyish 
dress blended appropriately with the dark back¬ 
ground of shrubs, and their songs were mingled with 
the subdued rattle of dry leaves on the branches in j 
such a manner as to make an agreeable half sound 
very pleasing to the ear. They were quite tame 
hut did not like to have me watch them on the groundj 
if 1 was too close. I managed to v/atch two though 
only a short distance away. One only v/as in plain 
sight, the other kept well hid among the weeds. 
They were feeding, lamb quarter and other seeds 
which had fallen to the ground. When they got to 
close there was always a low fusillade of chrring 
notes until they had gone farther apart. They 
seemed heedless of me as long as I stood still. 
They fed in a hurried manner picking a morsel 
here and another there without taking all in sight 
as they do in winter. On farther one lit on a 
fail fence about 20 feet away and then went to 
the ground where it was covered v/ith grass. The 
others all seemed to prefer a cover of weeds and 
bushes. It seemed to find something to eat on 
the dead leaves which were lying about. They were 
continually flying around from one cover to 
another. The weed grown field where I had watched 
