OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 295 



in Nebraska; and it is merely supposed to exist in Oregon. 

 During its migrations, it occurs in the Indian Territory. 



In Eastern Pennsylvania, these birds are observed in small 

 flocks during their spring and autumnal migrations. They 

 pass through Philadelphia during the last of March, or the 

 early part of April, and frequent the woods along the Wissa- 

 hickon. Their stay is rather brief, and scarcely exceeds three 

 days, at the utmost. When they alight for the purposes of 

 feeding, they cluster closely together, and do not diffuse them- 

 selves over a considerable scope of country. They are not 

 ordinarily shy, and can be approached with the least diffi- 

 culty, so intent are they upon feeding. They not unfre- 

 quently settle upon the ground to feed upon the seeds of 

 last year's growth, when there is a scarcity of arboreal 

 fruits. They prefer timbered regions and waste fields in 

 close proximity to running streams, rather than thickly pop- 

 ulated towns. 



Their flight is quite elevated, exceedingly rapid, and long- 

 continued. They progress by quick repeated wing-flaps, 

 their velocity depending'upon the size of the stroke. Accor- 

 ding to Audubon, they move with a velocity which is 

 scarcely less than a mile per minute. Specimens have been 

 captured in New York, and also in the vicinity of German- 

 town, which had their crops distended with undigested 

 grains of rice that had been gleaned in the distant fields of 

 South Carolina and Georgia. This fact will convey some 

 idea of the rapidity of their movements. Allowing the dis- 

 tance travelled to be from four hundred to five hundred miles, 

 it is obvious that Audubon could not have been very far 

 from the truth in his estimate of their velocity. When about 

 to alight, the force of their flight is considerably diminished 

 by quickly repeated flappings. During the spring, they 

 frequently fly in a circling manner, with both alar appenda- 

 ges inclined at a considerable angle in the upward direction. 

 Their terrestrial and arboreal movements are accomplished 

 with considerable ease, grace, and dignity ; and are attended 



