er birds," from the fact
of their moving to the northward during fine weather and to the southward
on the advent of deep snow-storms. They are much shyer than either the
Chickadees or Snow-birds; but they are often seen on the roadsides and in
the lanes searching for the seeds of weeds that grow there. On the
sea-shore, which they greatly frequent, they live on small shellfish. It
is curious that the greater the snow and the colder the weather of
winter, the whiter do the Snow-Buntings appear.

They are very swift flyers, and often in flocks of great numbers seem to
be a cloud of snow-flakes driven before a storm. They make their nests in
the fissures of the rocks, forming from grass, and feathers, and the down
of the Arctic fox, a very cosey home. They frequent the roads and lanes
in the vicinity of Boston, and their white forms and busy beaks can be
seen throughout the winter season.

[Illustration: THE SNOW BUNTING.]

They have peculiar notes like a clear whistle, and a "_chirr, chirr!_"
which they utter when flying.

A very fine little bird quite common in this State in the winter season,
is the Brown Creeper, with its showy brown and white coat. These active
little creatures are great lovers of the woods and pass their lives among
the trees.

Unlike the Chickadees and Nuthatches, who also are partial to the woods,
they very rarely descend to the ground to either hop about or hunt for
food. Nor do they, like the two former birds, ever hang to a limb with
their heads downward.

Still the Brown Creeper seems to be constantly in activity, and hunts
most diligently for the insects it feeds upon. This it does somewhat in
the manner of the Woodpecker, by clinging to the trunks or branches of
trees, supporting itself by its stiff tail-feathers and thus moving about
quite securely.

[Illustration: THE BROWN CREEPER.]

They are very methodical. They strive to get every insect from a tree
that there is on it, before leaving for another. So they generally alight
near the foot of a tree and gradually climb to the top; an insect must be
very, very small to escape their piercing gaze.

They often work around a tree in spirals, and so are at times lost to the
sight of an observer of their ways; and if the watcher runs around to the
other side of the tree, very likely by the time he gets there, lo! they
are back to the former side.

But they are not at all shy, and though not as neighborly and social as
the Chickadee,