IN THE FLAT-WOODS. 15 



versatile singer than the performances of my 

 first bird would have led me to suppose. 

 He varies his tune freely, but always within 

 a pretty narrow compass ; as is true, also, of 

 the field sparrow, with whom, as I soon came 

 to feel, he has not a little in common. It is 

 in musical form only that he suggests the 

 swamp sparrow. In tone and spirit, in the 

 qualities of sweetness and expressiveness, 

 he is nearly akin to Spizella pusilla. One 

 does for the Southern pine barren what the 

 other does for the Northern berry pasture. 

 And this is high praise ; for though in New 

 England we have many singers more brilliant 

 than the field sparrow, we have none that 

 are sweeter, and few that in the long run 

 give more pleasure to sensitive hearers. 



I found the pine-wood sparrow afterward 

 in New Smyrna, Port Orange, Sanford, and 

 Tallahassee. So far as I could tell, it was 

 always the same bird ; but I shot no speci- 

 mens, and speak with no authority. 1 Living 



1 Two races of the pine-wood sparrow are recognized 

 by ornithologista, Puccea Kstivalis and P. (fstivalis bach- 

 manii, and both of them have been found in Florida ; but, 

 if I understand the matter right, Puata cestivalis is tho 

 common and typical Florida bird. 



