OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. ir>f> 



but in the Middle and Southern States, and slightly in the 

 New England States, it is a permanent resident. 



In Eastern Pennsylvania this species is met with in every 

 month of the year. During the winter months, even when 

 the weather is unusually rigorous, small numbers seek 

 shelter in the dense pine thickets that clothe the sides of 

 the small valleys along the Wissahickon. These valleys are 

 carefully hemmed in on all sides by high hills. Though a very 

 common summer resident, it is never found in such abundance 

 during the autumnal and winter months, from which we infer 

 that it migrates in considerable numbers to warmer regions 



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farther south. It may be possible, owing to the scarcity of 

 suitable food-stuffs, and the great disadvantages under which 

 it labors in procuring a necessary supply, that this species, 

 like all others that take up their permanent residence, is 

 compelled to scatter itself over a wide extent of territory ; 

 this will account for the extreme paucity of its numbers. 



When the weather becomes warm, and there is a conse- 

 quent increase of insect-life, it comes out of its hidden retreats. 

 and visits the orchards of man in great numbers, where it 

 gleans a ready and ample subsistence. Its familiarity of 

 manners, and the immense good which it accomplishes in 

 the destruction of insects, render it, with some exceptions, 

 a general favorite . 



Its flight in early spring is somewhat lofty, and tolerably 

 protracted. Later, it is low, and in short, rapid undulations. 

 Its general movements, though closely related to those of the 

 last-mentioned species, are not executed with the same 

 rapidity and adroitness. Although its movements, while in 

 search of food, are mainly arboreal, we have occasionally 

 observed individuals to seize their prey on the wing, though 

 With but slight address ; and even upon the ground itself. 



As early as the nth of April, the birds begin to collect 

 from their rambles, and mating is at once commenced. It 

 is not an uncommon thing to find several pairs upon the same 

 tree, wooing each other. The females, like those of the last 



