THE SEMI-ANNUAL. 37 



these birds, is not unmusical. In the Spring, in addition to their 

 call-note, they have a thrill, resembling that of the Chipping 

 Sparrow, though rather more liquid and musical. The birds 

 are said to have yet another and rarer song, " a faint whisper- 

 ing warble." This is doubtless the bird's love song, which he 

 feels prompted to utter, only when near his Summer home. I 

 suspect we are too far south to hear it. 



Some authors maintain that these birds are wary and hard to 

 trap, but my experience is that they are not. When a small lad 

 I often caught them for amusement, letting them go again as 

 soon as caught. They are easily taken by a box held up by a 

 short stick and baited with bread crumbs, the stick being pulled 

 from under the box at the right moment by means of a long 

 string. One Winter's day I caught a whole flock that had made 

 a rendezvous of a haymow. They had access to the place 

 through an open door and when the birds were busily feeding, 

 the door was pulled shut, making them prisoners. 



A pair of Snowbirds which were caught and kept all Winter 

 in a large cage, soon became quite tame, but never so fearless as 

 a pair of English Sparrows in an adjoining cage, which were 

 caught at the same time. 



The birds ate anything that canaries would and were also fond 

 of bread and milk. In the Spring they became restless and on 

 being liberated, lost no time in joining their friends in the fields. 



While most of these birds go beyond the limits of the United 

 States to breed, there are a few that nest within our limits. They 

 commonly breed in the Adirondacks, White Mountains and oc- 

 casionally in the mountain ranges as far south as the Carolinas. 

 Wilson thought, " there must be something in the blood or 

 constitution of this bird, which unfits it for residing, during the 

 Summer, in the lower parts of the United States. However, he 

 found them abundant in the breeding season about the head 

 waters of the west branch of the Susquehanna and several nests 

 have been found in New York since, in latitude 42. 



The nest is usually concealed in a hollow beneath an over- 

 hanging bank and is composed of fi.ne grasses, leaves, weed- 

 stalks and pine needles, lined with the hair of cows, horses and 

 other animals. 



