246 THE SNOW-BIRD. 



Ha\vk, (Falco sparverius,) and several others of his* tribev 

 watching their opportunity, or hovering cautiously around, 

 making an occasional sweep among them, and retiring to 

 the bare branches of an old cypress, to feed on their vic- 

 tim. In the month of April, when the weather begins to 

 be warm, they are observed to retreat to the woods ; and 

 to prefer the shaded sides of hills and thickets ; at which 

 time the males warble out a few very low sweet notes ; 

 and are almost perpetually pursuing and fighting with 

 each other. . About the twentieth of April they take their 

 leave of our humble regions, and retire to the north, and 

 to the high ranges of the Alleghany, to build their nests, 

 and rear their young. In some of those ranges, in the in- 

 terior of Virginia, and northward, about the waters of the 

 west branch of the Susquehannah, they breed in great 

 numbers. The nest is fixed in the ground, or among the 

 grass, sometimes several being within a small distance of 

 each other. According to the observations of the gentle- 

 men residing at Hudson's bay factory, they arrive there 

 about the beginning of June, stay a week or two, and pro- 

 ceed farther north to breed. They return to that settlement 

 in the autumn, on their way to the south," 



There must be something in the temperature of the blood 

 or constitution of this bird, which unfits it for residing, 

 during summer, in the lower parts of the United States ; as 

 the country here abounds with a great variety of food, of 

 which, during its stay here, it appears to be remarkably 

 fond. Or, perhaps, its habit of associating in such numbers 

 to breed, and building its nest with so little precaution, 

 may, to insure its safety, require a solitary region, far from 

 the intruding footsteps of man. 



