Pleasant, indeed, in the midst of winter is this little bird’s cry:
“Chick-a-dee-dee-dee! Chick-a-dee-dee-dee!”
Pleasant his sharp whistle:
“Pe-wee! Pe-wee! Pe-wee!”
How much we should miss these amiable favorites should they ever take a notion to desert us! They stay with us throughout the year, but in summer they are shyer than in winter for they rear their young then. It is not until their family cares are over in the autumn, that they gather in small flocks and resume their merry life and social ways.
THE BLACK SNOW-BIRD.
Another very interesting and neighborly winter bird is our familiar Snow-bird, often called the “Black Snow-bird” to distinguish it from the Snow Bunting or “White Snow-bird.”
These tiny birds visit us from the north. Their journeys extend over the whole breadth of the United States. They appear here in the latter part of October, and are first seen among the decaying leaves near the borders of the woods, in flocks of about thirty. If molested, they at once fly to the trees. As the weather becomes colder they approach nearer the farm-houses and towns.