576 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Xotwithstandin^r the slighting manner in which the song of this bird is 

 spoken of by some writers, in certain parts of the conntrv its clear, pro- 

 longed, and peculiar whistle has given to it quite a local fame and popular- 

 ity. Among the Wliite Mountains, where it breeds abundantly, it is known 

 as tlie Peabody Bird, and its remarkably clear whistle resounds in all their 

 glens and secluded recesses. Its song consists of twelve distinct notes, which 

 are not unfrequently interpreted into various ludicrous travesties. As this 

 song is repeated with no variations, and quite frequently from early morning 

 until late in the evening, it soon becomes quite monotonous. 



Among the White Mountains I have repeatedly found its nests. They 

 were always on the ground, usually sheltered by surrounding grass, and at 

 the foot of bushes or a tree, or in the woods under a fallen log. In that 

 region it retained all its wild, shy habits, rarely being found in the neigh- 

 borhood of dwellings or in cultivated grounds. But at Halifax this was 

 not so. There I found them Ijreeding in gardens, on the edge of the city, 

 and in close proximity to houses, apparently not more shy than the common 

 Song Sparrow. 



Wilson states that these birds winter in most of the States south of New 

 England, and he found them particularly numerous near the Koanoke River, 

 collecting in flocks on the boi ers of swampy thickets, among long mnk 

 weeds, the seeds of whicli formed tlieir principal food. He gives the 20th 

 of April as the date of their disappearance, but I have observed them lin- 

 gering in the Capitol grounds in Washington several weeks after that date. 

 They pass through Eastern Massachusetts from the lOth to the 20th of May, 

 and repass early in Octolier. A few stragglers sometimes appear at earlier 

 dates, but irregularly. In Western Maine, where it is quite common, Pro- 

 fessor A'errill states that it sometimes arrives by the middle of April. Near 

 Springfield, Mass., Mr. Allen noted their appearance between the last of April 

 and the 20th of May ; in fall, from the last of September through October. 

 Their favorite haunts are moist thickets. The young males do not acquire 

 their full plumage until the second spring, but sing and breed in the plu- 

 mage of the females, as Mr. Allen ascertained Ijy dissection. Mr. Hildreth 

 observed a pair near Springfield during three successive summers, and al- 

 though he could not find the nest, he saw them feeding their scarcely fledged 

 young birds. 



At Columbia, S. C, Dr. Coues found these Sparrows very abundant, from 

 October through April. They sing, more or less, all winter, and during the 

 last few weeks of their stay are quite musical. Many hundreds pass the 

 months of March and April in the gardens of that city, though during the 

 winter they were mostly to be found in thickets and fields, in company with 

 many other species. 



A single specimen of this bird was killed in Aberdeenshire, August 17, 

 1867, and a second was lately captured alive near Brighton (P. Z. S., June 

 4, 1872). 



