e trees,
Egg and ant and grub;
Juicy tidbits, rich as cheese,
Hid in stump and stub.

Rat-tat-tat his chisel goes,
Cutting out his prey;
Every boring insect knows
When he comes its way.

Always rapping at their doors,
Never welcome he;
All his kind, they vote, are bores,
Whom they dread to see.

Why does Downy live alone
In his snug retreat?
Has he found that near the bone
Is the sweetest meat?

Birdie craved another fate
When the spring had come;
Advertised him for a mate
On his dry-limb drum.

Drummed her up and drew her near,
In the April morn,
Till she owned him for her dear
In his state forlorn.

Now he shirks all family cares,
This I must confess;
Quite absorbed in self affairs
In the season's stress.

We are neighbors well agreed
Of a common lot;
Peace and love our only creed
In this charmed spot.

INDEX

Blackbird, cow. See Cowbird.

Bluebird, arrival in spring, 1;
nest-building, 1, 2;
young and cicada, 2, 3;
a bewildered pair, 3-7;
love and rivalry, 7-12;
war with house wrens, 47-52.

_Bluebird, The_, poem, 13.

Bobolink, courtship, 77, 78;
concealment of nest, 78-81.

_Bobolink, The_, poem, 82.

Bob-white. See Quail.

Butcher-bird. See Shrike, northern.

Catbird, song of, 72, 73;
and black snake, 73-76;
a coquette, 83.

Cedar-bird, nest-building, 122, 123;
notes of, 124.

Chewink, markings of, 39;
Thomas Jefferson writes to Alexander Wilson about, 39-41;
inhospitality of, 83.

Chickadee, nesting of, 157-160.

Chippy. See Sparrow, chipping.

_Coming of Ph[oe]be, The_, poem, 31.

Cowbird, notes of, 33;
parasitic habits of, 33-35.

Crow, character of, 138, 139;
manners of, 139, 140;
wariness of, 140-142;
yearly meeting, 142, 143.

_Crow, The_, poem, 144.

_Downy Woodpecker, The_, poem, 169.

Flicker, call of, 21;
courtship, 22, 25, 26;
not satisfied with being a woodpecker, 22, 23;
excavating a nest, 23;
young, 23-25;
drumming, 26, 27.

Goldfinch, nesting, 125, 126;
notes of, 126-128;
flight of, 127, 128;
musical festivals, 128, 129.

Grouse, ruffed, 133-136.

Hawk, marsh, habits of, 106;
nest of, 106-108;
young, 111, 112;
a pet young one, 112-117.

Hawk, red-shouldered. S