A Study of a Lincoln's Sparrow 



BY WILLIAM BREWSTER 



,T Concord, Massachusetts, in the spring of iSgg, I 

 liad a rare opportunity of studying the habits and 

 notes of a Lincoln's Sparrow, The bird appeared May 

 15th in a thicket of bushes within a few yards of the 

 log cabin where I was living, and remained there until 

 the 22nd, spending apparently the whole of this period 

 within a space a few yards square. On the edge of the thicket, 

 in a bed of ferns about fifteen feet from the cabin door, I scattered 

 daily a quantity of millet seed. This convenient supply of a food 

 irresistible to most of the Sparrow tribe had, no doubt, much to do 

 with the prolonged visit of the Lincoln's Finch, although the weather, 

 during his entire stay, was too cool and threatening to be favorable 

 for migration. 



He was shy at first and at all times alert and suspicious, but he 

 showed a nice and, on the whole, wise discrimination in his judg- 

 ment of different sights and sounds. He soon learned to disregard 

 noises made within the cabin, as well as the rumble and roar of 

 trains passing along the railroad across the river ; but if our door 

 was suddenly thrown open or if a footstep was heard approaching 

 along the path he at once deserted the millet and retreated into the 

 thicket, dodging from bush to bush and keeping behind anything 

 that would serve as a screen until all became quiet again, when he 

 would reappear at the fern bed and, after a short reconnoissance, resume 

 his interrupted meal. However busily engaged he might be, no sight 

 nor sound escaped him. If a Chipmunk rustled the dry leaves on 

 the neighboring hillside he would erect his body and crane up his 

 neck, turning his head slowly from side to side to watch and listen. 

 There were many Chimney Swifts flying about, and when one passed 

 low overhead, with a sound of rushing wings, the Sparrow would 

 cower close to the ground like a frightened Partridge or Woodcock 

 and remain motionless for a minute or more. But if nothing oc- 

 curred to excite his apprehensions he would continue to feed busily 

 and unconcernedly until his appetite was satisfied. Truly an alert, 

 keen-witted little traveler, quite alive to all the possible as well as 

 obvious dangers that surrounded him, but too experienced and cool- 

 headed to give way to those senseless panics which so often seize 

 upon many of our smaller birds. 



Some of the seed had sifted down under the leaves, and for this 

 our bird scratched diligently like a Fox Sparrow, making first a 

 forward hop of about two inches, then a vigorous backward jump 



(109) 



