34 



MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



allows a near approach, and presently takes wing, sometimes with a 

 single chirp, oftener flying silently and rapidl}' long distances before 

 dropping to the ground. The more actively they are pursued, the wilder 

 they become and the further they will fl}' each time they are flushed, and 

 the faster they seem to run from the spot where the breathless collector 

 expects to find them. They often permit you to come within a few yards 

 of them when first disturbed, and they never spring from under your 

 very feet, probably because they start to run away the moment you are 

 observed ; but after once flushing them it is by no means certain you can 

 put them up a second time. I have sometimes seen them alight on bushes 

 or trees or fences, but on these rare occasions they have generally been 

 with flocks of Savanna and other Sparrows not far from treeless wastes 

 of gently rolling sand-hills. Sometimes they are found on salt marshes, 

 but they seem much to prefer dry, open sand-hillocks well covered with 

 grass, or the depressions among them. 



On Sable Island, as might be expected, they were comparatively tame, 

 although even there not permitting a very close inspection. They watch 

 you, especially when singing from the tops of the sand-hills or the bushes, 

 with evident suspicion, and as there is no cover they are not easily stalked. 

 When you approach, they become restless, repeatedly crouching down as 

 if about to fly, bobbing up again, and, finally, either slipping quietly down 

 the opposite side of the sand-hill, or more frequently standing their ground 

 until you are within a few yards. Meanwhile their uncertainty of mind is 

 voiced by occasional sharp chirps, and presently they suddenly depart with 

 brisk, undulating flight, following the inequalities of tlie ground until 

 hidden by a distant hill. If pursued from place to place, they soon 

 become very wary and will fl}' until they are nearly out of sight before 

 alichtinof. 



When undisturbed in search of food, they walk jauntily about on the 

 ground or over the shiny green carpet of Crowberrjs the head nodding like 

 a pigeon's, the tail raised at a slight angle with the back. They indulge 

 in sundry little hops and flirtings of the wings and tail when they hasten 

 their steps to overtake some luckless insect, but their ever}' movement is 

 deliberate as compared with the racing gait with which we associate 

 them when on our own seashore. They most frequented the vicinity of 

 the ponds, and abounded towards the eastern end of the island where the 

 hills and valleys are most extensively clothed with the Crowberry and the 

 Juniper, in the many snug nooks and pockets of which tiiey hide away 

 their cosey nests or find refuge at night from the penetrating, fog-laden air. 

 When seen against this dark green background the birds looked very 

 pale, while contrasted with the sand over which they ran or flew they 



