324 BIRDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



in winter and returns in April, when it resorts to fields and 

 open plains. Audubon says, that it breeds in all places from 

 Maryland to Labrador. If so, the nest probably can be found 

 here, though it may be easily mistaken for that of the species 

 last described. 



The Snow-bird, Pringilla hiemalis, commonly called the 



blue snow-bird, to distinguish it from the snow-bunting, a bird 



much less common than this, comes to us just in advance of 



the wintry desolation, an infallible sign that the dreary season 



is at hand ; dreary to us, it would be proper to say ; for this 



little traveller, though it retreats before it, evidently has no 



fear of its cold and snow. It is almost always seen here in 



company with the tree-sparrows. After doing all they can to 



pick up a subsistence from the frozen ground, they come round 



our houses to gather crumbs, or any morsels of provision that 



may have been cast out from the door ; and if a handful of 



meal is thrown to them, they receive it with great delight. 



After remaining with us as long as possible, in the heart of the 



winter, ti^ey are compelled to remove ; but with the first 



glimpse of spring they reappear, resorting to orchards or to 



the edges of "Lhe wood, and roosting in hay-stacks, when the 



nights are severely cold. They are only summer residents in 



the fur countries, and never abound there. Wilson tells us 



that they sometimes 'oreed in the Alleghany mountains. 



The Yellow-shouldebled Sparrow, Fri7igilla savamiarum, 

 comes from Mexico and the West-India islands, where it passes 

 the winter. It pays us a passing visit, when it attracts some 

 attention by its song ; but it soon hurries on to some other 

 breeding-place. While here, it prefers the neighborhood of 

 the sea, where it explores newly ploughed fields in search of 

 insects and seeds. It never retires to the woods. 



The Tree-Sparrow. Frinsi'iUa Canadensis, arrives from 

 the north at the approach of winter, and remains here during 

 most of that season. It is called the snow-bird, by many, and 



