344 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
1885, a robin red-breast built ber nest in an apple tree that stood within a few . 
feet of the rear door of my residence, in St. Louis. This familiarity we 
encouraged by giving her food several times each day, until she came 
to expect a regular allowance. In due time the robin laid four eggs, and 
began the interesting process of incu¬ 
bation, not the least alarmed during 
this period, even when I went within 
so close as a foot of her. In every 
respect we were friends. The brood 
was at length hatched out, and for 
more than a week my wife and 
daughters vied with the old birds in 
giving the young kindly attention. 
One morning, shortly after daylight, 
I heard a very great noise in my back 
yard, and, rising to discover the cause, 
hedge accentor. was astonished to see perhaps a score 
of sparrows making a united attack 
upon the young robins, two of which had been dragged from the nest and 
killed. I hurried down-stairs to the assistance of my pets, but before I could 
reach them the sparrows had fairly covered the poor little fledglings and 
bitten their bodies almost into a pulp. I have been told by others that such 
murderous propensities are often exhibited by these imported pests, which 
accounts largely for the rapid disappearance of our song birds. 
The Snow-bird (.Fringilla hyemails ). A few years ago these birds were so 
plentiful that flocks of a thousand or more were a common sight, and cruel 
sportsmen often fired into the swarms, merely out of curiosity to see how many 
they could kill at a single discharge of a shot-gun. Snow-bird pie became a 
favorite dish, and this led to the capture, by trapping, of so many that their 
number rapidly diminished, and now it is a rare sight to see a flock number¬ 
ing as many as a dozen. The snow-bird rarely makes its appearance 111 the 
United States before November, and migrates northward early in the spring, 
for the purpose of breeding. They nest upon the ground, after the manner of 
larks, except that, in nesting, they 
do not lose their gregariousness, 
but continue closely together. 
The Song Warblers ( Lusdninae ) 
are represented in America by no 
less than fifty-seven species. As 
their name indicates, they are noted 
for their sweet song, to which is 
added a graceful form and great 
activity of movement. In all these 
birds the beak is strong, straight 
and sharply pointed, with a notch 
on the upper mandible near the snow-bird. 
extremity. The nostrils are placed 
at the base of the beak, are pierced through a rather large membrane, and are 
protected by feathers. They are all insectivorous, and are of the greatest benefit 
to farmers and horticulturists. Their size is equal to that of a snow-bird. 
