OF NEW ENGLAND. 209 



I shall endeavor, so far as possible, to introduce him to my 

 readers. 



The Swamp Sparrows are locally common thifonghout New 

 England, but most so to the southward and eastward. They 

 reach the neighborhood of Boston in tlie earlier part of April, 

 and remain there until October or even November. They 

 inhabit exclusively wet lands, chiefly those which are rather 

 secluded, or which contain bushes and the like. They are 

 shy, and it is almost impossible to study their habits except by 

 penetrating their haunts and resting there motionless. Tiiey 

 may be there observed to move from bush to bush, but not 

 "jerking their tails as they fly," or to run quite nimbly on the 

 ground, where they find much of their food, which consists of 

 seeds, berries, and insects. They are not so collective as the 

 Song Sparrows often are, nor have I often seen them perched 

 in trees. On the contrary, they are very terrestrial, often 

 scratching like the Fox Sparrows, or wading in shallow water. 



(d). The Swamp Sparrows excel all our other finches in the 

 variety of their distinct notes, and on this score are perhaps 

 to be ranked as the first musicians of their family. Of these 

 notes their mellow chuck, their harsh scold, and their song, bear 

 a strong resemblance to the corresponding notes of the Cat- 

 bird. This song is much less pleasing than the sweet, clear 

 trill, much like that of the Pine Warbler or Snow-bird, which 

 generally replaces it in spring, or their low warble occasionally 

 to be heard in autumn. They have also a soft chip^ a queru- 

 lous note, and certain expressive twitters. Like the Song Spar- 

 rows, who sing chiefl}' in the early morning and at dusk, they 

 keep comparatively late hours, and often do not retire until it 

 is almost dark. I remember to have seen one at evening in 

 the eccentric expression of his passion during the season of 

 love, dart from a thicket, mount in the air, and take quite a 

 rapid, circuitous flight, continually uttering a fine, steady trill, 

 until, having returned to the thicket, he dived into it, ejacula- 

 ting a few broken musical notes, after which all was still. Song 

 with birds is often a passion, or the effect of one, and the chaf- 

 finches in France are said, when caged, and placed as rivals 

 15 



