WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. 79 



case would be exactly reversed, and I have found them in the 

 bushes on the mainland near by, and spent much time in sitting 

 down and quietly waiting while the litde fellows, at first frightened 

 by my presence, afterwards gained confidence and crowded around 

 the bushes close to my feet, my hands, and my face ; they 

 did not, as a certain author once remarked of the black-capped 

 chickadee, alight on the tip of my boots and peer at me, but they 

 did peer at me from bushes within a few feet of my face, and certainly 

 within reach of my hand had I grasped for them, — though I 

 should undoubtedly have missed them had I attempted it. After 

 remaining about for some time they would fly away, only to light 

 on some bush near, or return again, to examine more fully the 

 mysterious object which had attracted their attention ; then they 

 would chatter away to themselves as if comparing notes. If finally 

 I raised my hand or my head they would dart off to some covert 

 and disappear as if by magic. This chickadee is often the only bird 

 that may be seen in the woody portion of the "lake regions," where 

 in the heat of the day it is active and full of song, even in the 

 summer. The darker the woods, or the more tangled the under- 

 brush, the better these birds seem to like it. It is here the counter- 

 part of our native black-capped titmouse {Fajus atricapillus). 

 That latter bird did not appear here during the year to my knowl- 

 edge, although it is given by Reeks, in his Hst of Newfoundland 

 birds, as common and breeding. The Hudsonian titmouse breeds 

 all up and down the coast, but it usually prefers the interior and 

 tangled undergrowth district, which is quite difficult of access. 

 The ordinary note of this titmouse adds a very pretty and pleasing 

 lisp to the dee, dee, dee notes which it so frequently utters, and 

 which our bird usually delivers so plainly and clearly. 



I also saw several white crowned sparrows (yZonotrichia albicollis) , 

 and though they were not remarkably tame I afterwards found them 

 in large numbers breeding in the low evergreen shrubbery about 

 the island. They have a pretty song, and are otherwise attractive 

 companions, but I will say more of them farther on. 



Thursday the yth. Most of the day was spent in rambling about 



