428 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



the first spring arrivals appear from March twenty-first to 

 April seventh, and practically all are gone by October twenty- 

 sixth, only the few winter stragglers remaining later. 



The species best loves the bushy river, brook and pond shores, 

 meadows and marshes, but it is also common along the country 

 roadsides in the bushes, and I have even found it nesting rarely 

 in rocky woodland clearings in the uplands. It is however 

 primarily a bird of the lower lands, preferring to live not far 

 from water. In the spring the males sing frequently, through- 

 out the day, while in early summer their songs are more often 

 heard in early morning and evening. Though very pleasing 

 and characteristic the song cannot be well described on paper. 

 The songster is usually perched on a rock, in a bush or on a 

 fence, or sometimes well up in a tree. Occasionally an indi- 

 vidual will sing on the wing. The ordinary alarm notes are 

 a "chip" "tcheek" or "chuck." When alarmed they usually 

 work downward into the bushes with bobbing tail, hopping 

 along from twig to twig, or skulking through the underbrush, 

 grass and leaves. They do not fly, save from bush to bush, 

 unless closely pursued with evident intention to flush them or 

 do them harm, preferring to work downward through the 

 bushes. 



The nest is variously situated, more often on the ground in 

 a field or meadow near a brook or along a river or pond shore, 

 sometimes in shrubs, bushes and thickets at a height of generally 

 not over two or three feet, and very rarely indeed in trees. 

 Mr. Swain tells me he has found nests in natural cavities of 

 old apple trees in orchards near Farmington. June 7, 1895, I 

 found a nest ten feet from the ground in the fork of a pine 

 tree, and judging from circumstances the bird had had its 

 first litter of eggs ruined by water and had resolved to avoid 

 the same mishap the second time. 



A nest taken May 27, 1900, was situated on the ground under 

 a brush heap in a cleared pasture. It was composed of strips of 

 cedar bark, grass stems, dry leaves and lined with fine grasses. 



