BIRDS OF EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 115 



obtuse bill. Indeed, so nearly does it resemble the P. 

 gramineus, that amateur ornithologists to whom I have 

 shown it have unhesitatingly pronounced it to be that 

 species. 



I give the comparative measurements of the two speci- 

 mens, remarking that Professor Baird's was made from the 

 dried skin, while mine was taken from the fresh bird. 



The Ipswich Sand-hills, where the specimen was pro- 

 cured, is a most peculiar place. I never have met with its 

 equal anywhere. Years ago these Sand-hills, which are 

 three miles long by three fourths of a mile across, and con- 

 tain about one thousand acres, were covered with a thick 

 growth of pine-trees. Protected by these trees, and among 

 them, dwelt a tribe of Indians, whose earlier presence 

 is indicated, not only by tradition, but by numerous shell 

 heaps scattered over the Sand-hills at irregular inter- 

 vals. Indeed, even now the ashes of camp-fires may be 

 seen, apparently fresh. Upon the advent of the white 

 man, the usual event transpired, namely, the disappearance 

 of the trees ; and to-day, with the exception of a few scat- 

 tering ones at the southeasterly corner, near the house 

 of the proprietor of the Sand-hills, Mr. George Woodbury, 

 not a tree is to be seen. All is bleak and barren. The 

 surface of the ground, once covered with a slight deposit of 

 soil, has become a mass of shifting sands. Many times has 

 the present owner had cause to regret the want of fore- 

 sight in his ancestors in removing the trees, as the several 

 acres of arable land around the house are now covered 

 with sand, including a valuable apple-orchard. Upon this 

 orchard the sand has drifted to the depth of thirty feet. 

 Some of the trees present the curious phenomenon of ap- 

 ples growing upon limbs that protrude a few feet only 

 above the sand, while the trunk and lower branches are 

 buried ! The Sand-hills, in places, are covered with a 

 sparse growth of coarse grass, upon the seeds of which, 



