90 WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. 



meter externally, 2 in depth, 2| in diameter within, although rather ob- 

 long, and 1 1 deep. In one nest we found a single feather of the Willow 

 Grous. The eggs, five in number, average | of an inch in length, are 

 proportionally broad, of a light sea-green colour, mottled toward the 

 larger end with brownish spots and blotches, a few spots of a lighter tint 

 being dispersed over the whole. This description differs greatly from 

 that of the nest and eggs of this species given by others, who, I appre- 

 hend, have mistaken for them those of the Fox-tailed Sparrow, or the 

 Anthus Spinoletta. We found many nests, which were all placed on the 

 ground, or among the moss, and were all constructed alike. They deposit 

 their eggs from the beginning to the end of June. In the beginning of 

 Avigust, I saw many young that were able to fly, and by the 12th of that 

 month the birds had already commenced their southward migration. The 

 young follow their parents until nearly full grown. 



The food of this species, while in Labrador, consists of small coleop- 

 terous insects, grass seeds, and a variety of berries, as well as some mi- 

 nute sheU-fish, for which they frequently search the margins of ponds or 

 the seashore. At the approach of autumn, they pursue insects on the 

 wing, to a short distance, and doubtless secure some in that manner. 



The song of the White-crowned Finch consists of six or seven notes, 

 the first of which is loud, clear, and musical, although of a plaintive na- 

 ture ; the next broader, less firm, and seeming merely a second to the first ; 

 the rest form a cadence diminishing in power to the last note^ which 

 sounds as if the final effort of the musician. These notes are repeated at 

 short intervals during the whole day, even on those dismal days produced 

 by the thick fogs of the country where it breeds, and where this species 

 is of aU the most abundant. The White-throated Finch was also very 

 plentiful, and we found it breeding in the same locahties. 



The flight of this interesting bird is usually low, swift, and greatly pro- 

 tracted. It is performed without any jerk of the tail. They migrate 

 mostly by day — I say mostly, because while crossing a great arm of the 

 sea, like the Gulf of St Lawrence, they perhaps may not always be able 

 to accomplish their transit in one day. 



I have met with this bird in almost every portion of the United States 

 during early spring and autumn, but always either single or in very small 

 groups. I have shot some near New Orleans in April, at Cincinnati, and 

 near New York in May. They reach the Magdeleine Islands, Newfound- 

 land, and the coast of Labrador, about the first of June. Those which I 



