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Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson



seen in the latitude of New York. In rare instances it has been

recorded in the winter as far north as Massachusetts, but such cases

are very exceptional. Virginia is usually the extreme northern

limit of its winter sojourn.


A Worldly-wise Bird.


As a rule it is not quite so trustful of mankind as are some

of our better-known lawn and garden species, as, for example, the

robin and house wren ; nor is it one of those shy denizens of

forests and open fields that rai'ely venture into a city. In fact it

occupies a somewhat middle ground, and to a more or less extent

flits between these two groups, and seems fairly well at home in

either situation, as might be expected of so well-bred a bird-of-the

world.


Its occurrence in town, however, would appear to be more

common in the autumn than the spring. It seems to prefer to

investigate the abodes of man during the period when it has no

pressing domestic duties and responsibilities. When nesting-time

arrives, therefore, it is best to seek for it along hedge-rows or beside

old fences half concealed by shrubbery, from the depths of which

often it will announce its presence by its sharp, clear cry chewink.

Abandoned fields, wherein briers and bushes have sprung up, are

also favourite places for the towhee.


Its Song.


One summer day, as a member of a Harvard botany class, I

journeyed some miles out of Cambridge, and afoot began a rather

laborious climb up the somewhat steeply sloping side of Blue Hill.

As we advanced, the trees decreased steadily in size until, perhaps

three-fourths of the way to the top, they became so scraggy that in

many places they had much the aspect of bushes. This change in

the condition of the vegetation must have been due largely to the

poor quality of the soil, as the altitude was not great. We studied

many plants that day, many of which I have forgotten, but I do

remember with great distinctness the songs of towhees, which with

marvellous clearness rang from the topmost bough of many a stunted

tree. This is the kind of situation it invariably occupies when

singing. The nightingale may sing from the depths of its myrtle-

bush, the veery from the bough of its favourite oak, and the gnat-



