BIEDS OF KANSAS 



71 



A rather timid bird, that darts into tlie thickest growths 

 at the least ahirin, uttering, as it starts, a sharp chup note. 

 It also has a soft, Sparrow-like chip, or call note, and 

 occasionally utters a few low, soft, warbling notes; but 

 its charming love song is only heard during the breeding 

 season. It is rather short, but unsurpassed in melody 

 by any of the family. 



In the month of July, 1879, I found them breeding on 

 Byron Isle, one of the Magdalen group, in the Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence. It was too late in the season for their 

 eggs, as their young birds were nearly full grown. From 

 actions, I think the parent birds were preparing to rear 

 another brood, as the males were singing almost con- 

 stantly, from early morn till late at night; but their 

 song, so rich and silvery in its tone, was ever welcomed, 

 and never seemed tiresome, and I think they rank next 

 to our Thrushes and Wrens as songsters. 



Their nests are usually placed on tlie ground, in con- 

 cealed places, occasionally in bushes. Mr. -Nelson, in his 

 "' Keport upon ISTatural Historical Collections in Alaska," 

 gives the following minute description of a nest and its 

 eggs : 



'' On June 5th, 1880, a pair was shot, in a thicket near 

 St. JNtichael's, and the nest secured. The nest obtained is 

 a very strong, compact structure, four and a half inches 

 across by two and three-fourths high, having a central 

 cavity one iaid three-fourths inches deep by two and 

 three-fourths across. The outer part of the nest is made 

 of a thin, compact layer of green moss, with a few dead 

 leaves. Inside is a thin layer of dried grass, running circu- 

 larly up the inside of the nest; this again is lined with 



