64 SONG SPARROW. 



Early in spring the Song Sparrows may be found along 

 fence rows and in thickets. They also occur in bushes on 

 the side of streams. They are not shy birds, and when started 

 from one retreat, merely fly a sufficient distance to reach the 

 nearest bush which will afford them partial concealment. In 

 flying the tail is whisked from side to side, a movement which 

 is quite characteristic of the species. 



Song. Early in March should a few warm days occur, the 

 the lively, well known song of this Sparrow may be heard oft- 

 en in the vicinity of houses. It begins with two or three clear 

 detatched notes, runs into a warbling trill, and terminates 

 with one or two separate notes, something like those given at 

 the beginning. I know a few bird songs which, to my ear, are 

 more pleasing, but possibly this may be largely due to pleasant 

 associations connected with the chant of this Sparrow, which 

 one hears so constantly, for none of our native birds continue 

 to sing as long as this. As mentioned, they begin their songs 

 amid the ice and snoAvs of our lingering winter, continue 

 through the spring and summer, for the sultry heat of August, 

 during which most of our native birds are silent, finds them 

 singing. Through the autumn their melodies may still be 

 heard, and even on warm days in November, when the brown 

 earth is covered with fallen leaves, our little plainly colored 

 friends will breakout into the same clearly given lay which 

 they practised earlier in the season. 



