320 BIKDS OF ONTARIO. 



west ot" H;uiiiltuii. It WHS lnwurds the close of a wjiiiu day in the 

 early pai-t of Julv, and the last rays of the sun were brightening 

 the tops of the tamaracks, while, underneath, the still waters of the 

 pond, enclosed in a deep natural basin, were shrouded in gloom. 

 There was little to break the silence, till a bird, mounting to the 

 topmost twig of one of the trees, his bill pointing uj)wai"d. his tail 

 hanging limp and motionless, and his whole attitude indicating lan- 

 guor and weariness, di-awled out the plaintive, familiar " Old Tom 

 Peabody, Peabody.' This song harmonized so perfectly with tlie 

 surroundings that I felt at once he was at home. The hour, the 

 attitude, and above all the feeling of weariness expressed in the 

 plaintive notes of the bird, reminded me strongly at the time of the 

 Yellow-hammer of Britain. 



Allan Brooks has also found this species breeding at Milton, a 

 few miles north of the west end of Lake ( )ntario, but such cases are 

 by no means common in this district. In the fall they are again 

 seen in limited numbers, but at that season the plumage of the male 

 has lost much of its brightness, and young and old, male and female, 

 resemble each other in appearance. 



Their food, which consists chietly of seeds, is obtained on (»i- 

 near the ground. During October the}' are seen travelling ivom 

 one brush pile to another, and by the end of that month they are 

 jjone for the seasf)n. 



(tKNUS SPIZELLA BoNAPAliTK. 



SPIZELLA MONTTCOLA (Cmkl.). 

 2:50. Tree Sparrow. (•")•")'•>) 



Hill, ))lack above, yellow below ; legs, brown ; toes, l)lack ; no blark on 

 forehead ; crown, chestnut (in winter specimens the feathers usually skirteil 

 with gray) bordered by a grayish-white superciliary and loial line, and .sonu- 

 vague chestnut marks on sides of head ; below, imjjurely whitish, tinged 

 with ashy anteriorly, washed with pale l)rownish ))osteriorly ; the middle of 

 the breast with an obscure dusky blotch ; middle of back boldly streaked 

 with l)lack, bay and fla.xen ; middle and lesser wing coverts, black, edged 

 with bay and tipped with white, forming two conspicuous cross bars ; inner 

 secondaries similarly variegated ; other quills and tail feather-s, dusky, witli 

 pale edges. Length, li ; wing and tail, nearly 3. 



Hab.— -Kastern North America, westward to tlie I'lairi.^, and from tlie 



