t the first week of May, and nests with
eggs are found as late as August. A nest of the Junco was found on the
rafters of a barn in Connecticut.

Almost any time after the first of October, little excursion parties
of Juncos may be looked for, and the custom continues all winter long.
When you become acquainted with him, as you surely will, during his
visit, you will like him more and more for his cheerful habits. He
will come to your back door, and present his little food petition,
very merrily indeed. He is very friendly with the Chick-a-dee, and
they are often seen together about in the barn-yards, and he even
ventures within the barn when seeds are frozen to the ground.

"The Doctor," in _Citizen Bird_, tells this pretty story of his winter
pets:

"My flock of Juncos were determined to brave all weathers. First they
ate the seeds of all the weeds and tall grasses that reached above
the snow, then they cleaned the honeysuckles of their watery black
berries. When these were nearly gone, I began to feed them every day
with crumbs, and they soon grew very tame. At Christmas an ice storm
came, and after that the cold was bitter indeed. For two days I did
not see my birds; but on the third day, in the afternoon, when I was
feeding the hens in the barn-yard, a party of feeble, half-starved
Juncos, hardly able to fly, settled down around me and began to pick
at the chicken food. I knew at a glance that after a few hours more
exposure all the poor little birds would be dead. So I shut up the
hens and opened the door of the straw-barn very wide, scattered a
quantity of meal and cracked corn in a line on the floor, and crept
behind the door to watch. First one bird hopped in and tasted the
food; he found it very good and evidently called his brothers, for in
a minute they all went in and I closed the door upon them. And I slept
better that night, because I knew that my birds were comfortable. The
next afternoon they came back again. I kept them at night in this way
for several weeks, and one afternoon several Snowflakes came in with
them." (See page 150.)

THE KINGBIRD.

It is somewhat strange that there should be little unity of opinion
concerning a bird as well known as is this charming fellow, who has
at least one quality which we all admire--courage. We will quote a
few of the opinions of well-known observers as to whether his other
characteristics are admirable, and let the reader form his own
conclusion.