126 PINE WOOD FINCH. 



HABITS. 



The pincy woods in the immediate vicinity of Lake Ilarney, Florida, arc among the 

 finest that I ever saw in the state. A narrow strip of marsh or hummock borders the 

 water, but back of this the vast plains stretch away in the distance with the large brown 

 tree trunks rising at intervals, while high over head wave the branches covered with 

 evergreen leaves. There are but few of the lofty limbs and therefore they cast but little 

 shadow, thus the ground is covered with green grass in profusion and is sprinkled with 

 wild flowers of varied hue. Some ten years ago I visited this lovely region for the first 

 time. Then everything was in its primitive state, for there was but one settler on the 

 east side of the lake and, as he cultivated but a very small portion of the soil, the coun- 

 try was a wilderness, there not being another house or cabin within twenty-five miles. 

 Then the deer roamed in herds and it was not an uncommon occurance to meet with a 

 dozen in one morning's walk. They found ample pasturage in the luxuriant growth of 

 short grass which covered the earth with a soft carpet. 



This grass formed a place of concealment for many birds, and it was here that I first 

 became acquainted with the Pine Wood Finch. I was walking through the woods one 

 morning, when a little bird started from nearly under my feet, flew a short distance, then 

 dropped and disappeared. Anxious to obtain it, I endeavoped in vain to start it a second 

 time, but shortly after I took a specimen and recognized it as the species under consider- 

 ation. This was in winter when they are difficult to find but later, by the last of March 

 or first of April, they are more abundant and much easier to obtain. Then the males 

 make themselves more prominent for they are in full song. Early in the morning, when 

 the delicate sun-dews and rare orchids are sparkling with dew-drops, when all is silent save 

 the distant cry of the Sandhill Crane or the low murmur of the gentle breeze in the tree 

 tops, the melodious strains of the Pine Wood Finch are heard to the best advantage. 

 There are few among the many brilliant songsters of this family which surpass our little 

 friends. Seated on a branch of some fallen tree or a low limb of a pine , they pour forth 

 the sweetest warbling carol that I ever heard in Florida. When I first listened to the bird 

 I could not believe that it was a sparrow, for there is a kind of ventriloquism about the 

 sound, causing it to so completely fill the air that it is not easy to distinguish the exact 

 spot from which it comes. After giving his performance for some time the male flies down 

 into the grass to join his mate. 



At first the song is only given morning and evening, but a little later the birds sing 

 at intervals all day continuing until long after sunset. They breed about the middle of 

 April placing the nest on the ground, concealing it in the higher patches of grass. The 

 young are able to fly by the first of June. The Pine Wood Finch is very abundant through- 

 out Northern and Middle Florida in summer but I looked for it without success in suitable 

 localities at Miami. I found a few about Cedar Keys in winter and, as above stated, at 

 Lake llarncy, but I do not think that very many pass the winter in the state. I was sur- 

 prised to find them breeding at Wilmington, North Carolina, in June, but I did not find 

 them there in winter a few years later. 



