. Our winter birds, how to know and how to attract them . south, a cousin ofhis comes from the north to remain with us untilApril. The two birds resemble each other in generalappearance, but the Tree Sparrow is somewhatlarger and heavier and in the center of his breast 104 OUR WINTER BIRDS he wears a small, dusky badge, while the ChippingSparrow is unmarked below. In voice and character, the cousins are quite call is an insignificant little chip whichwould attract the attention of no one but a bird stu-dent; but the Tree Sparrows winter notes are acrisp, merry tinkle. The birds
. Our winter birds, how to know and how to attract them . south, a cousin ofhis comes from the north to remain with us untilApril. The two birds resemble each other in generalappearance, but the Tree Sparrow is somewhatlarger and heavier and in the center of his breast 104 OUR WINTER BIRDS he wears a small, dusky badge, while the ChippingSparrow is unmarked below. In voice and character, the cousins are quite call is an insignificant little chip whichwould attract the attention of no one but a bird stu-dent; but the Tree Sparrows winter notes are acrisp, merry tinkle. The birds are usually in com-panies and when hunting for seeds in old weed-stalkswhich stick up above the snow, their happy, conver-sational chatter makes one think of a lot of childrengathering nuts. A short time before they leave usto return to their summer home in Canada, we mayhear their canary-like song. We have already seen (p. 5) how much thesecare-free little seed-eaters do for a farmer. REDPOLL AND SISKIN A PAIR OF WINTER WANDERERS Redpoll {Figs, 47, 48). HEN the world of birds was a fasci-nating mystery to me, filled withstrange forms and stranger voices,about which no one seemed toknow anything, I saw, one winterday, a flock of small birds feedingon the catkins of a white birch. They seemed tobe about the size and general color of ChippingSparrows (one of the few birds I knew by name,and which I called Chippy), but when I got nearenough to see them clearly I discovered, to my sur-prise, that they wore red caps 1 Some, indeed, hadred vests! What could they be? Where had theycome from? With neither books nor bird* friendsto consult, both questions remained long unanswered;so I named the birds Red-capped Chippies, and by that name I think of them to this day. 105 io6 OUR WINTER BIRDS Even now, their coming Is a mystery. We canname almost the exact day when the Flycatcher,Warbler, or VIreo will come back to us from thedistant tropics, but no one can tell when the Red-polls will ap
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirdsunitedstates
