204 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



lantic to the Missouri Eiver, and from Louisiana and Florida to the Arctic 

 regions. In a large portion of the United States it is only known as a 

 migratory species, passing rapidly through in early spring, and hardly 

 making a longer stay 



in the fall. 



Scolecopha^us ferrugineus. 



Richardson states that the summer 

 range of this bird extends to the 

 68th parallel, or as far as the woods 

 extend. It arrives at the Saskatch- 

 ewan in the end of April, and at 

 Great Bear Lake, latitude 65°, by 

 the 3d of May. They come in pairs, 

 and for a time frequent the sandy 

 beaches of secluded lakes, feeding 

 on coleopterous insects. Later in 

 the season they are said to make 

 depredations upon the grain-fields. 



They pass through Massachusetts 

 from the 8th of March to the first of 

 April, in irregular companies, none of 

 which make auy stay, but move hur- 

 riedly on. They begin to return early in October, and are found irregularly 

 throughout that month. They are unsuspicious and easily approached, and 

 frequent the streams and edges of ponds during their stay. 



Mr. Boardman states that these birds are common near Calais, Me., arriving 

 there in March, some remaining to breed. In Western Massachusetts, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Allen, they are rather rare, being seen only occasionally in 

 spring and fall as stragglers, or in small flocks. Mr. Allen gives as their 

 arrival the last of September, and has seen them as late as November 24. 

 They also were abundant in Nova Scotia. Dr. Coues states that in South 

 Carolina they winter from November until March. 



These birds are said to sing during pairing-time, and become nearly silent 

 while rearing their young, but in the fall resume their song. Nuttall has 

 heard them sing until the approach of winter. He thinks their notes are 

 quite agreeable and musical, and much more melodious than those of the 

 other species. 



During their stay in the vicinity of Boston, they assemble in large num- 

 bers, to roost in the reed marshes on the edges of ponds, and especially in 

 those of Fresh Pond, Cambridge. They feed during the day chiefly on grass- 

 hoppers and berries, and rarely molest the grain. 



According to Wilson, they reach Pennsylvania early in October, and at 

 this period make Indian corn their principal food. They leave about the 

 middle of November. In South Carolina he found them numerous around 

 the rice plantations, feeding about the hog-pens and wherever they could 

 procure corn. They are easily domesticated, becoming very familiar in a few 

 days, and readily reconciled to confinement. 



