SONG SPARROW. 129 



the coverts mai-gined and tipped with whitish. Tail-feathers uniformly 

 dull brown. 



Length 6 inches, extent of wings 81 ; bill along the ridge ^, along 

 the gap 1^ ; tarsus 1, middle toe |, hind toe |. 



Adult Female. Plate XXV. Fig. 2. 



The female hardly differs in colour from the male. 



The Huckle-berry or Blue-tangles. 



Vacciniusi frondosum, Wild. Sp. PI. vol. ii. p. 352. Pursh, Flor. Amer. ^vol. i. 

 p. 285.— Decandria Monogynia, Linn. EmcM.,Juss. 



Leaves deciduous, ovato-oblong or lanceolate, entire, smooth, glaucous 

 beneath, resinous ; racemes lax, bracteate ; pedicels long, filiform, brac- 

 teolate ; corollas ovato-companulate, with acute laciniae and included 

 anthers. The flower is white, the calyx green, the berry globular and of 

 a bluish-black colour. It varies greatly in the form of the leaves, as well 

 as in stature, sometimes attaining a height of six or seven feet, 



Huckle-berries form a portion of the food of many birds, as well as of 

 various quadrupeds. Of the former, I may mention in particular the 

 Wild Turkey, several species of Grouse, the Wild Pigeon, the Turtle 

 Dove, some Loxias, and several Thrushes. Among the latter, the Black 

 Bear stands pre-eminent, although Raccoons, Foxes, Oppossums, and 

 others destroy great quantities. When the season is favourable, these 

 berries are so thickly strewn on the twigs, that they may be gathered in 

 large quantities, and as they become ripe, numerous parties resort to the 

 grounds in which they are found, by way of frolicking, and spend the 

 time in a very agreeable manner, 



