416 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



and gradually. Judging by snatches of song heard as they 

 pass through, the wild melody they utter in the northern forests 

 must be indeed sweet and pleasing. Their song as heard by 

 me is a soft, sweet, longing series of whistles resembling certain 

 notes of the Vesper Sparrow, uttered with the intonation and 

 cadence characteristic of the end portion of the well known 

 White throated Sparrow's song. Their usual call is a "tchip" 

 uttered in distrust or alarm. 



Such food as is eaten while they pass through the State is 

 largely of an insect nature in spring, consisting of small beetles, 

 flies, grubs and green caterpillars, while in the fall considerable 

 grass seed and weed seeds as well as insects are eaten. They pass 

 along the bushy wayside thickets, the alder lined banks of 

 rivers and streams and through alder swamps and thickets, 

 but sometimes come into the city gardens and scratch among 

 the bushes. Usually only two to five are seen together, but 

 when they are plentiful many are seen in suitable places in 

 the course of the day. 



The nest is placed on the ground, either in the woods or 

 thickets in very similar localities, so it is said, to those selected 

 by the White-throated Sparrows. Four or five eggs are laid. 

 Five eggs before me were said to have been taken at Tes- 

 siujak, Labrador, June 23, 1896, from a nest on the ground 

 built of grasses and fine weed stems, lined with dog's hair and 

 wool. These eggs measure 0.78 x 0.61, 0.78 x 0.61, 0.79 x 

 0.61, 0.84 X 0.60, 0.79 x 0.61. They are pale bluish white 

 in color, rather heavily blotched with reddish brown and bay 

 and in one egg with a few black spots. Some of the eggs are 

 heavily blotched, almost wreathed about the larger end, while 

 in others the spots are finer and more evenly distributed. It 

 seems indeed likely that a series of eggs would show fully as 

 much and similar variation to those of the White-throated 

 and Gambel's Sparrows. As individuals have been seen in 

 Maine in June and also August it seems possible that they 

 may very rarely breed. 



