68 DAYS OUT OF DOORS. 



by others called bay- winged bunting, and christened by 

 the scientific students of birds Pooccetes gramineus. 



So much for the critics ; now for the bird itself. A 

 robin, three grass-finches, three bluebirds, and a pair of 

 song-sparrows took refuge in the barn, one large mow of 

 which was empty. Here they escaped the snow and 

 wind, it is true, but the cold was, I thought, even more 

 intense than out of doors. I fully realized, for the first 

 time, the meaning of the familiar expression " as cold as 

 a barn," for I gave some time to watching these tempest- 

 driven birds that had here found shelter. In habit, these 

 nine individuals might be grouped as the singers and the 

 silent, for while six were quite happy in the thought of 

 danger escaped and at times feebly lisped a hymn of 

 thankfulness, the grass-finches were silent even to chirp- 

 ing, as though doubtful if barn-floors were much, if any, 

 preferable to death. The ground-frequenting habits clung 

 to them closely. They sped like mice over the ground 

 floor, and only when hard pressed would they fly to the 

 mow, and then did not long remain. 



Heretofore it has been my experience to have the grass 

 and slightly ridged surface of even our smoothest fields 

 obscure the bird as it voluntarily wandered about, and 

 every occasion would prove but a series of rapidly recur- 

 ring glimpses only ; while, on the other hand, the bird's 

 hurried motions when trying to keep just ahead of car- 

 riage wheels have really no significance as to its method. 

 The barn-floor, therefore, afforded excellent opportunity 

 for observation, and I was forcibly reminded of the Euro- 

 pean skylarks in the aviary of a friend. 



What struck me as a curious feature of the bird's 

 habits, was that of spreading the tail when moving lei- 

 surely across the floor, as well as when forced to fly. In 

 the latter case, there is an explanation of the habit, sug- 

 gested and well supported by J. E. Todd. It is to the 



