FOX-COLOURED SPARROW. 59 



the whole of the Union by day, resting here and there awhile, to watch 

 the gradual improvement of the season. 



They enter the British Provinces full of joy, and lavish of song. Many 

 are well pleased to remain there, but the greater number pursue their 

 course to revisit the Magdeleine Islands, Newfoundland, and the country 

 of Labrador. There you find them in every pleasant dell, where no sooner 

 have they arrived than each searches for a safe retreat in which to place 

 its nest. This is in due time replenished with eggs ; and, while the fe- 

 male sits on them with care and anxiety, her devoted lover chants the 

 blessings they both enjoy. 



The flight of this bird is low, rapid, and undulating. While passing, 

 over the Gulf of St Lawrence, it flies swiftly, at a moderate height, with- 

 out uttering any note. They appear to be able to travel to a considerable 

 distance, without the necessity of alighting, and I have thought that they 

 may accomplish the passage of the Gulf without resting on any of its 

 islands. As soon as they aUght, they betake themselves to the deepest 

 thickets. 



During the breeding season, their plumage has a richness which it 

 does not exhibit in the winter months, while with us. Indeed some of the 

 males at that time are so highly coloured as to be of a bright red rather 

 than of a brown tint ; and their appearance, as they pass from one bush 

 to another, or skip from stone to stone, is extremely pleasing. I have 

 attempted to represent this colouring in the Plate. 



Would that I could describe the sweet song of this finch ; that I could 

 convey to your mind the efiect it produced on my feelings, when wander- 

 ing on the desolate shores of Labrador ! — that I could intelligibly tell 

 you of the clear, full notes of its unaffected warble, as it sat perched on 

 the branch of some stunted fir. There for hours together was continued 

 the dehghtful serenade, which kept me lingering about the spot. The 

 briUiancy and clearness of each note, as it flowed through the air, were so 

 enchanting, the expression and emphasis of the song so powerful, that I 

 never tired of listening. But, reader, I can furnish no description of the 

 melody. 



While in South Carolina, in January 1834, after I had returned from 

 the country where this species breeds, I happened, one fair day, to meet 

 with a groupe of these birds. They were singing in concert. Never shall 

 I forget the impression which their notes made on me : I suddenly stopped 

 and looked around ; for a moment I imagined that I had been by magic 



