200 
NATURE STUDY. 
species is rare now, having mostly gone to its northern 
breeding grounds. The former, however, is very numer¬ 
ous. 
In a small patch of Cambridge woods, a Blue-Jay was 
hopping stealthily about in an old apple-tree, very difficult 
to see in spite of his gaudy plumage; and in a large oak I 
saw five Downy Woodpeckers rejoicing in the warm sun¬ 
shine. As I wandered about through some leafless under¬ 
growth, I flushed two Juncoes from the ground. They flew 
with a low, drooping flight to some bushes beyond, where 
they sat “chipping” softly together. 
In a large expanse of swampy meadow and grassy field 
near Fresh Pond, I saw and heard many red-capped tree 
sparrows among the brush and weeds, which afforded both 
food and protection. This bird shows marked increase in 
numbers as spring approaches. Near the railroad track 
several Song Sparrows crept silently through the brush, 
where they had probably spent the winter. As I drew near 
them and they left the bushes, they flew low, with a char¬ 
acteristic pumping of the tail, to the nearest cover, as if 
loath to be seen. A grouse thundered up from a small weed 
mound where he had been sunning himself after his long, 
winter campaign, and after several powerful wing strokes, 
sailed over some small birches, and into the thick grass be¬ 
yond. Suddenly, from a swampy thicket, the rather hus¬ 
ky ditty of a Swamp Sparrow rang out its unmistakeable 
prophesy of coming spring. 
Among the trees, bordering the ice encased brook in Rock 
Meadow, I saw numerous tracks of Bob White, winding 
in and out among the trunks of small trees, on the thin lay¬ 
er of snow covering the ice. Skunk cabbages lifted their 
odorous heads from a small brook lined with intensely green 
watercress, and as I approached an old stone wall nine or 
ten Juncoes flew from the bushes nearby and scattered like 
leaves to the ground some distance away. 
