174 FRIENDS WORTH KNOWING. 



that was a master songster some Shelley or Thomson 

 among its kind. The strain was remarkably prolonged, in- 

 tricate, and animated, and far surpassed anything I ever be- 

 fore heard from that source." 



Occasionally the song-sparrow sings on the wing while 

 dropping to the ground from the top of a high tree a 

 favorite perch in early spring ; and during the mating sea- 

 son many strange modifications of his tune strike the ear. 

 As the summer comes on, his song, in common with that 

 of all other birds, is less often repeated until it almost 

 ceases in the fall ; yet it may be heard, by an observing 

 listener, every month in the year. His call to his mate is 

 a simple chuck or hwit. 



Earely leaving his native copses until late in autumn, he 

 has little need to exert large powers of flight, and moves 

 from one low bush to another with a jerking, undulatory 

 motion. His home is near the ground, and it is only the 

 excitement of love which in spring prompts the males to 

 seek the tree-tops. 



His food is principally procured from the ground and 

 among the branches and leaves of the wild shrubbery, and 

 consists of blossoms, seeds, berries, and insects, varying ac- 

 cording to the season and the age of its nestlings. Early 

 in spring he is, as Mr. Gentry puts it, "a vegetarian," living 



