404 DIVISION I. VKKTEIUJAL ANIMALS. — CLASS H. AVES. 



According to the statements of those traders who have resided near Hud- 

 son's Cay, tiie Snow ]>untings arc tlie carHest of tlicir migratory birds, 

 appearing there alxmt the lltiiuf A[)ril, staying ahoiit a month or five 

 weeks, and proc'ceding fartiier north to hieed. They rctui'n again in Sep- 

 tember, stay till Xovcmber, when the se\cre frosts drive them southward." 



'Jhe Sparrows and Finches arc also very generally distributed ; in their 

 numbers arc found some of the ix'st singing-ljirds, such as the Song Sparrow 

 of America, the White-throated Si)arrow, the Vesper Bird, the Canary Bird, 

 I'urple Finch, l^c. ( )nc of tlie best singers of these is the Piu'ple Finch, 

 sometimes called Bed Linnet. It is distributed throughout the continent, 

 from the Atlantic to the high central plainss migrating north and south in 

 the spring and aiitiunn. In the nortli the birds separate into pairs soon after 

 their arrival, about the middle of April, but do not eonunence building 

 before the middle of May. They are occasicnially resident through the mild 

 winter. The nest is usually built in a pine or cedar tree, and is sometimes 

 thirty or even forty feet from the ground, — ■ oftener aljout fifteen or twenty. 

 It is constructed of line roots and grasses, and is lined with horsehair and 

 liogs' bri.-.th's. (_)ne s[iecimen in our collection has the cast-olF skin of a 

 snake woven in the rest of the fabric ; and we have seen nests lined with 

 mosses, (u'lierally hairs of diiferent animals form the lining, and roots and 

 crass the njain strLicture. 



o 



Tile eggs are of a beautiful bluish-green color, and marked with spots and 

 streaks of black : their form is a sharply [)ointed oval, and their dimensions 

 average about .94 by .Gl inch, "\^'ilson says of this species, — 



" U'his is a winter bird of passage, coming to us in large flocks from the 

 north, in September and October ; great numbers remaining with us in 

 Pennsylvania dining the whole winter, feeding on the seeds of the poplar, 

 button-wcmd, juni[)Cr, cedar, and on those of many rank weeds that flourish 

 in rich bottoms and along the margin of creeks. When the season is very 

 severe, they proceed to the south, as far at least as Georgia, returning 

 north early in April. They now fre(pient the elm trees, feeding on the 

 slender but sweet covering of the flowers ; and, as soon as the cherries put 

 out their blossoms, feed almost cxclusi\ely on the stamina of the flowers : 

 afterwards, the apple blossoms are attacked in the same manner ; and their 

 depredations on these continue till they disappear, which is usually about 

 the 10th or middle of ?»Iay. I have been told that they sometimes breed ia 

 the northern parts of Xew York, hut have never met with their nests. 

 Ab(]Ut the middle of Septeml)cr I found these bii'ds nmnerous on Long 

 Island, and around Newark in Xew Jersey. They fly at a considerable 

 height in the air ; and their note is a single c/iiiil-, like that of the Rice Bird. 

 They possess great boldness and spirit, and, when caught, bite \iolently, 



