572 NOUTU AMKUICAX UTUDS. 



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alwjut tlie 15tli to the liotli ot' May, and at Slave Like only a few days 

 earlier. They are tlien no lonj^er in ilocks, Imt have already paired. They 

 commence nesting almost immediately nj>on their arrival at the Yukon and 

 at Fort Clood Ho|>o. Mr. lioss lound nests made as early as May 2(1 to 25, 

 while there was still considerable snow upon the j^round. They mostly nest, 

 however, in the fnst iialC »»f dune, the young usually hatching l)etween the 

 l."»tli and .")Oth, and leaving the nests when less than a month old. They all 

 lea\e the Arctic Circle alnjut the middle of Sei)tend>er. A few were seen 

 at Fort 8im])Son in the latter part of that month. When starting, they 

 gather in small Ilocks. The nest is built on high ground, among low, 

 open bushes, always at the foot of some shndj or bush, and more or less 

 protected and concealed by grass. It is never placed in the edges of 

 marshes, like Me/ospiza lincolni; nor on small prairies, like the J\( sser cuius 

 savanna ; nor in thick woods, as does sometimes the Z. albicollis. The nest 

 is neatly built, is more compact and of finer materials than that of the 

 latter. It is large and deep, formed externally of coarse grass, and lined 

 with finer materials. 



When started from her nest, the female flies off a few yards and flutters 

 silently along the ground to divert attention. If unsuccessful, she flies 

 al)out her nest uttering sharp, hai-sli notes of anxiety. The male is less 

 bold on such occasions. Their favorite habitat is light open bushes, affect- 

 ing neither oi)en plains nor deep woods and never perching so high as 

 twenty feet from the ground, and usually, in all their movements, keeping 

 close to the earth. 



Its food, so far as could be observed, consisted almost wholly of seeds, 

 sought mostly on the ground. It hatches only a single brood in a year. 



Mr. B. K. Koss adds that this is the most abundant Sparrow throughout 

 the Mackenzie Kiver region, and also the most interestinff. Through the 

 spring and summer its melodious song, which strongly calls to mind the 

 first notes of the old air, " O Dear ! what can the Matter be i " may be 

 heard from every thicket, both night and day. When sleeping in the 

 woods, Mr. Koss states that he has often been awakened by several of 

 these birds singing near him, answering each other, throughout the short 

 night, when all the other birds were silent. On this account, but for the 

 richness and melody of its song the bird would have made itself quite 

 disagreeable. 



The Cree Indians name this Sparrow Wah-si-pis-chan, because they think 

 this resembles its notes, the last of which are supposed to imitate the sound 

 of running water. It sings long after the breeding-season is past, and its 

 not<3s may be heard even into August. 



The eggs measure .85 of an inch in length by .65 in breadth, and have a 

 ground of a greenish -white marked with a rusty-brown. They are of a 

 rounded-oval shape. 



