OF NEW ENGLAND. 219 
being themselves in small flocks, though separate individuals 
may now and then be seen. They feed almost entirely upon 
seeds, which they pick up from the ground, but they are not 
very quick in their movements. They are rather shy, and, 
when frightened, usually fly to trees; not often perching at a 
greater height than thirty feet above the ground. They are 
not, however, so shy as never to come near houses, if they find 
the precincts attractive, but they seem to be most bashful when 
they sing. Unfortunately they do not sing very much in 
spring, and, indeed, some naturalists have told me that they 
have heard them utter here only their ordinary notes. In 
summer, the ‘‘ White-throats” inhabit northern New England 
(or the countries beyond), as for instance Mount Desert or the 
White Mountains. In both these places they frequent the 
woodland, especially that of ‘light growth,” or the spruce- 
trees, and I have often heard them there near the tops of high 
wooded hills. I say “heard them,” for one rarely sees them, 
because of their shyness. If I remember rightly, it is about 
the first of August that they almost cease to sing; and, as 
autumn approaches, they show less attachment to their sum- 
mer-haunts.. Ht is in September that they again make their 
appearance in Massachusetts, and, from the middle of that 
month until the latter part of October, they are tolerably com- 
mon, though a little irregularly so. In the autumn their habits 
are much the same as in the spring, but they are rather less 
gregarious. I have seen a solitary individual so late as the 
fourteenth of November, and I have, moreover, occasionally 
heard these birds sing during their fall-migrations. 
(d). The ordinary note of the White-throated Sparrows is 
a rather feeble ‘‘tseep,” much like that of the Fox-colored Spar- 
rows, and indeed of other birds. Their song is sweet, clear, 
and exquisitely delicate, consisting of whistled notes, which 
have been likened to the words :—‘‘ Old Sam Peabody, peabody, 
peabody, pedbody.”7? This song is often somewhat varied, 
72Tt usually begins with a note pitched at about D on the piano, followed by 
one higher, which is succeeded by several triplets (2-5), each of which is pitched 
a little lower than the preceding. It is sometimes prefaced by a few low twitters. 
