60 LIFE-HISTORIES OF BIRDS 



so softly as doubtless to escape the hearing of persons of uncul- 

 tivated ears. Mr. Minot in "Land-Birds and Game Birds 

 of New England," has expressed in rather felicitous language 

 a few of these notes, which, we cannot do better than to 

 quote as they are in perfect accordance with our own ob- 

 servation. They are (ch) pe-o-e, whit* whit-pee and pu pit 

 pti pu, produced with a very soft intonation. There arc- 

 other notes chiefly of a querulous character which are heard 

 during the mating-period, which we have not been able to 

 identify with sufficient accuracy. 



Mr. Nuttall characterizes this species as being of a tyran- 

 nical disposition betimes, which agrees with our experience. 

 He instances the case of an inoffensive Sparrow which had 

 been chased to the ground, for no other cause than that of 

 happening to venture upon its territory in quest of food. 

 We have observed many cases of a similar character, which 

 strongly attest to the jealousy, selfishness and tyranny of its 

 character. 



By earlier writers this species is described as being more 

 retired in its habits than its cousins, as well as more suspi- 

 cious. In our early ornithological rambles we had always 

 encountered it far from the busy scenes of active life, its nest 

 being invariably found in dense forests saddled upon the 

 horizontal branch of some gigantic high-towering oak. Lat- 

 terly, we have been somewhat surprised to meet with several 

 nests in close proximity to occupied dwellings, in rather 

 thickly-settled towns. These nests were built upon the hor- 

 izontal branch of an apple-tree, at elevations less than ten 

 feet above the ground. The tree had often been visited by 

 the school children of the neighborhood, who whiled away 

 their leisure moments beneath its sheltering boughs, while 

 the mother-birds sat within their cosy nests overhead app- 

 arently unmindful of what was going on below, in the en- 

 joyment of calm satisfaction and perfect security. 



It is well known that many birds upon their first acquaint- 

 ance with man, eye him askance, conceive very unfavorable 



