34 NOIlTir AMERICAN' niRDS. 



direction from wliicli I liiid a]i])roa('liO(l. Tliis peculiar, circuitous, concciilcd 

 lli^'Iit is ii \ory cliuractcristic tniit of tiiis bird, and one sure to excite atten- 

 tion. 



As tlie season advanced, or about tlie lOtii of April, when the ])airing 

 season was at hand, the son;,'s of the males became jj;reatly improved, increas- 

 ing in sweetness and vivacity, and full of rapturous enu)tion ; their nuuiners, 

 also, became changed, for they had lost all their wariness. In Jiaying their 

 attentions to tlieir mates, the males would tly from bu.sh to bush, Mith a 

 ])eculiar, tremulous fluttering of the wings, which, when the bird alighted, 

 were raised above tiie back ap])arently touching each other; all the while 

 vibrating with the emotion and ecstasy that agitated the singer. 



The sung of this bird, tJHaigh very deficient in ])ower, — in this respect 

 eciualling no other species of j\fiiiii)ia' with which 1 am acquainted, — is 

 nevertheless superior to most of them in sweetiu'ss, vivacity, and variety. 

 Tt has a wonderful rescmlilancc to the l)eautifid subtle warbling of the 

 Jt'ct/ii/iis vitlniihi/ii, having in fact very nuich the same style, with much of 

 the tone, and about the power of the song of the Pi/rfnif/c rubra. 



When the liirds are engaged in incul)ation, the males become very silent, 

 and one not familiar with tiieir habits earlier in the sea.son would think they 

 never had a voice; in fact, they make no protestations even when the nest is 

 disturbed, for, while blowing the egg.s, I have had the parent liirds running 

 around me, in the manner of a robin, now and then halting, stretching for- 

 ward their heads, and eying me in the most an.xious manner, but remaining 

 licrfectly silent. When the young are hatclied the ]>arents become more 

 .solicitous, signifying their concern by a low, subdued r/iiirk. At all times 

 when the nest is aii])roaclii;d, the l)ird generally leaves it slyly before one 

 a])]iroaches very near it. 



The nest is very bulky, comi)ose<l externally of rough sticks, yu'incipally 

 the thorny twigs of the various " .sage bush " ])lants. Xearer the centre the 

 ])rinci])al material is fine strips of iinier bark of the.se ])lants; and tlie liiung 

 eimsists of finer strij)S of bark, mingled with fine roots, and bits of rabbit 

 fur. The situation of the nest varies but little, luring generally jilaccd 

 near the middle of a bush, that is, about eighteen inches from tiie ground, 

 it is generally sujjported against the main trunk, upon a horizontal branch. 

 Several were found ujion the ground Ijcneatli the bush, one, in fact, endiedded 

 in the soil, like that of a I'ipilo ; or as sometimes the case with the Hor- 

 2wrJi>/nchitH rufm, others, again, were found in brush-heaps. In all ea-siis, 

 th(( nest was very artfully conceah'd, the situation l)eing so well .selected. 



This bird is almost eijually eonunon in all parts of its haliitat, within the 

 lii.'its indicated. In June, we found it abundant on the large islands in the 

 Cheat Salt Lake, where many nests were found. 



In autumn, it feeds, in comi)any with many other birds, upon berries, 

 " service berries " being its especial favorite. 



