34 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



direction from which I liacl approached. This peculiar, circuitous, concealed 

 flight is a very characteristic trait of this bird, and one sure to excite atten- 

 tion. 



As the season advanced, or about the 10th of April, when the pairing- 

 season was at hand, the songs of the males became greatly improved, increas- 

 ing in sweetness and vivacity, and full of rapturous emotion ; their manners, 

 also, became changed, for they had lost all their wariness. In paying their 

 attentions to their mates, the males would fly from bush to bush, with a 

 peculiar, tremulous fluttering of the wings, which, when the bird alighted, 

 were raised above the back apparently touching each other ; all the while 

 vibrating with the emotion and ecstasy that agitated the singer. 



The song of this bird, thougli very deficient in power, — in this respect 

 equalling no other species of Miminoi with which I am acquainted, — is 

 nevertheless superior to most of them in sweetness, vivacity, and variety. 

 It has a wonderful resemblance to the beautiful subtle warbling of the 

 Begiilus cale7idula, having in fact very much the same style, with much of 

 the tone, and about the power of the song of the Pyranga rubra. 



When the birds are engaged in incubation, the males become very silent, 

 and one not familiar with their habits earlier in the season would think they 

 never had a voice; in fact, they make no protestations even when the nest is 

 disturbed, for, while blowing the eggs, I have had the parent birds running 

 around me, in the manner of a robin, now and then halting, stretching for- 

 ward their heads, and eying me in the most anxious manner, but remaining 

 perfectly silent. When the young are hatched the parents become more 

 solicitous, signifying their concern by a low, subdued chuck. At all times 

 when the nest is approached, the bird generally leaves it slyly before one 

 approaches very near it. 



The nest is very bulky, composed externally of rough sticks, principally 

 the thorny twigs of the various " sage bush " plants. Nearer the centre the 

 principal material is fine strips of inner bark of these jjlants ; and the lining 

 consists of finer strips of bark, mingled with fine roots, and bits of rabbit 

 fur. The situation of the nest varies but little, being generally placed 

 near the middle of a bush, that is, about eighteen inches from the ground. 

 It is generally supported against the main trunk, upon a horizontal branch. 

 Several were found upon the ground beneath tlie bush, one, in fact, embedded 

 in the soil, like that of a Pijnlo ; or as sometimes the case with the Har- 

 porhynchus rufm, others, again, were found in brush-heaps. In all cases, 

 the nest was very artfully concealed, the situation being so well selected. 



This bird is almost equally conmion in all parts of its habitat, within the 

 limits indicated. In June, we found it abundant on the large islands in the 

 Great Salt Lake, where many nests were found. 



In autumn, it feeds, in company with many other birds, upon berries, 

 " service berries " being its especial favorite. 



