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 breasts."
"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. [Footnote: Turdus migratoria.] 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.
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