572 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



about tlie 15tli to the 20tli of May, aud at Slave Lake only a few days 

 earlier. They are then uo longer in tiocks, but have already paired. They 

 commence nesting almost immediately upon their arrival at the Yukon and 

 at Fort Good Hoj^e. Mr. Eoss found nests made as early as May 20 to 25, 

 wliile tliere was still considerable snow upon the ground. They mostly nest, 

 however, in the first half of June, the young usually hatching between tlie 

 l.jth and odtli, aud leaving tlie nests when less than a month old. They all 

 leave the jVrctic Circle about the middle of September. A few were seen 

 at Fort Simpson iu the latter part of that month. When starting, they 

 gather in small tiocks. The nest is budt on high ground, amoug low, 

 open bushes, always at the foot of some shrub or bush, and more or less 

 protected and concealed by grass. It is never placed in the edges of 

 marshes, like Mdospiza lincolni ; nor on small prairies, like the Passerculus 

 savanna ; nor in thick woods, as does sometimes the Z. alhicollis. The uest 

 is neatly built, is more compact and of finer materials than that of the 

 latter. It is large and deep, formed externally of coarse grass, and lined 

 with finer materials. 



Wlien started from lier nest, the female flies off a few yards and flutters 

 silently along the ground to di\ert attention. If unsuccessful, she flies 

 about lier nest uttering sharp, harsh notes of anxiety. The male is less 

 bold on such occasions. Their favorite liabitat is light open bushes, affect- 

 ing neither open ])lains nor deep woods and never perching so high as 

 twenty feet from the ground, and usually, in all their movements, keeping 

 close to the earth. 



Its food, so far as could be observed, consisted almost A\holly of seeds, 

 sought mostly on the ground. It hatches only a single brood in a year. 



]\Ir. B. K. Ross adds that this is the most abundant Sparrow throughout 

 the Mackenzie Itiver region, and also the most interesting. Through the 

 spring and summer its melodious song, whicli strongly calls to mind the 

 first notes of the old air, " Dear ! what can the Matter be I "' may be 

 heard from every thicket, both night and day. "When sleeping in the 

 woods, Mr. Ross states that lie has olten l>een awakened by several of 

 these birds singing near him, answering each other, throughout the short 

 night, when all the otiier birds were silent. On this account, but for the 

 richness and melody of its song the bird woidd have made itself quite 

 disagreeable. 



The Cree Indians name this Sparrow Wah-si-pis-chan, because they think 

 this resembles its notes, the last of which are supposed to imitate the sound 

 of running water. It sings long after the breeding-season is past, and its 

 notes may be heard even into August. 



The eggs measure .85 of an inch in length by .65 in breadth, and have a 

 ground of a greenish -white marked with a rusty-brown. They are of a 

 rounded-oval shape. 



