Part 7 (2/2)
Lady Mary now left her good nurse, and took her basket, with all its Indian treasures, to show to her mamma,--with whom we leave her for the present.
CHAPTER VI.
CANADIAN BIRDS--SNOW SPARROW--ROBIN RED-BREAST--CANADIAN FLOWERS-- AMERICAN PORCUPINE.
”Spring is coming, nurse! Spring is coming at last!” exclaimed the Governor's little daughter, joyfully. ”The snow is going away at last. I am tired of the white snow, it makes my eyes ache. I want to see the brown earth, and the gra.s.s, and the green moss, and the pretty flowers again.”
”It will be some days before this deep covering of snow is gone. The streets are still slippery with ice, which it will take some time, my lady, to soften.”
”But, nurse, the sun s.h.i.+nes, and there are little streams of water running along the streets in every direction; see, the snow is gone from under the bushes and trees in the garden. I saw some dear little birds flying about, and I watched them perching on the dry stalks of the tall rough weeds, and they appeared to be picking seeds out of the husks. Can you tell me what birds they were?”
”I saw the flock of birds you mean, Lady Mary; they are the common snow-sparrows; [Footnote: Fringilla nivalis.] almost our earliest visitants; for they may be seen in April, mingled with the brown song-sparrow, [Footnote: Fringilla melodia.] flitting about the garden fences, or picking the stalks of the tall mullein and amaranths, to find the seeds that have not been shaken out by the autumn winds; and possibly they also find insects cradled in the husks of the old seed-vessels. These snow-sparrows are very hardy, and though some migrate to the States in the beginning of winter, a few stay in the Upper Province, and others come back to us before the snow is all gone.”
”They are very pretty, neat-looking birds, nurse; dark slate colour, with white b.r.e.a.s.t.s.”
”When I was a little girl, I used to call them my Quaker-birds, they looked so neat and prim. In the summer you may find their nests in the brush-heaps near the edge of the forest; they sing a soft, low song.”
”Nurse, I heard a bird singing yesterday, when I was in the garden; a little plain brown bird, nurse.”
”It was a song-sparrow, Lady Mary. This cheerful little bird comes with the snow-birds, often before the robin.”
”Oh, nurse, the robin! I wish you would show me a darling robin redbreast. I did not know they lived in Canada.”
”The bird that we call the robin in this country, my dear, is not like the little redbreast you have seen at home; our robin is twice as large; though in shape resembling the European robin; I believe it is really a kind of thrush. It migrates in the fall, and returns to us early in the spring.”
”What is migrating, nurse; is it the same as emigrating?”
”Yes, Lady Mary, for when a person leaves his native country, and goes to live in another country, he is said to emigrate. This is the reason why the English, Scotch, and Irish families who come to live in Canada are called Emigrants.”
”What colour are the Canadian robins, nurse?”
”The head is blackish, the back lead colour, and the breast is pale orange; not so bright a red, however, as the real robin.”
”Have you ever seen their nests, nurse?”
”Yes, my dear, many of them. It is not a pretty nest; it is large, and coa.r.s.ely put together, of old dried gra.s.s, roots, and dead leaves, plastered inside with clay, mixed with bits of straw, so as to form a sort of mortar. You know, Lady Mary, that the blackbird and thrush build nests, and plaster them in this way.”
The little lady nodded her head in a.s.sent. ”Nurse, I once saw a robin's nest when I was in England; it was in the side of a mossy ditch, with primroses growing close beside it; it was made of green moss, and lined with white wool and hair; it was a pretty nest, with nice eggs in it, much better than your Canadian robin's nest.”
”Our robins build in upturned roots, in the corners of rail fences, and in the young pear-trees and apple-trees in the orchard. The eggs are a greenish blue. The robin sings a full, clear song; indeed he is our best songster. We have so few singing-birds, that we prize those that do sing very much.”
”Does the Canadian robin come into the house in winter, and pick up the crumbs, as the dear little redb.r.e.a.s.t.s do at home?”
”No, Lady Mary, they are able to find plenty of food abroad, when they return to us; but they hop about the houses and gardens pretty freely. In the fall, before they go away, they may be seen in great numbers, running about the old pastures, picking up worms and seeds.”
”Do people see the birds flying away together, nurse?”
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