But I guess it misunderstood and thought I meant to bite, for it flew off a little way and I saw three speckled blue eggs and--then I thought I'd better come away." "Did you hear it sing ?" asked Nat.
"No--it only said 'chip--chippy--chip.'" "Chippies have two songs," said the Doctor.

"One is a kind of chirp or trill like an insect's note--'trr-r-r-r-r.' They give this usually when they first wake up in the morning.

The other is a pretty little melody, but is less frequently heard." "If they eat seed, why don't they stay here all winter ?" asked Rap; "yet I'm sure they don't." "They are not as hardy as some of their brothers, and do not like our winter weather; but even in autumn you may mistake them for some other Sparrow, for then Mr.Chippy takes off his brown velvet cap, and his dainty little head is stripped." The Chipping Sparrow Length about five inches.
A dark chestnut cap, a light stripe over the eye, and a dark stripe behind the eye; forehead and bill black; back streaked with black, brown, and buff; rump slate-gray; wings and tail dusky.
Under parts plain light gray, almost white on throat and belly, darker on breast.
A Citizen of North America, nesting from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, wintering in the Southern States and beyond.
A Weed Warrior and a member of the Tree Trappers and Ground Gleaners in nesting-time.
THE SLATE-COLORED JUNCO (THE SNOWBIRD) "Here we have a northern winter bird--or, at least, one that we associate with winter and call the Snowbird; for everybody sees him on his autumn and winter travels, and knows his Sparrow-like call-note, while his summer home is so far north or so high on mountains that few visit him in the tangled woodlands where he sings a pretty trilling song to his mate.
[Illustration: Slate-Colored Junco.] "When I was a boy here at the Farm, these white-vested Juncos were my winter pets.

A flock was always sure to come in October and stay until the last of April, or even into May if the season was cold.

One winter, when the snow came at Thanksgiving and did not leave the ground until March, the birds had a hard time of it, I can tell you.