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THE TREE SrARROW. 



Fringilla canadensis. Lath. 

 PLATE CLXXXVIII. Male and Female. 



This species seldom if ever resorts to the Southern States during win- 

 ter, and to the westward of the Alleghany mountains scarcely proceeds 

 farther down the Ohio than the neighbourhood of Louisville in Kentucky ; 

 so that it may be considered as quite a northern bird. It reaches Massa- 

 chusetts at the approach of winter, and is more frequent in the maritime 

 districts of that State than in the interior, where, however, it is met with 

 in considerable numbers. In the beginning of October, if the weather be 

 cold, the Tree Sparrow is seen among the magnificent elm trees that or- 

 nament the beautiful city of Boston and its neighbouring villages ; and, 

 like the hardy, industrious, and enterprising people among whom it seems 

 to spend the severe season by choice, it makes strenuous efforts to supply 

 itself with the means of subsistence. Many remove as far south as Penn- 

 sylvania, and even Maryland ; but I never observed one in either of the 

 Carolinas. Their return to the north is marked by a lingering disposi- 

 tion to wait each day for a finer and warmer morrow. They appear, in- 

 deed, so perfectly aware of the danger to be encountered during a forced 

 march in the early spring, that on the least change from mild weather to 

 cold, they immediately return to their loved winter quarters. By the 

 middle of May, howevei-, they have begun to move regularly, and their 

 songs announce the milder season at every resting place at which they 

 tarry. 



The Tree Sparrow sings sweetly during the love season. I have fre- 

 quently listened to their musical festivals near Eastport, in the State of 

 Maine, while gazing upon them with an ardent desire to foUow them in their 

 progress northward. Twenty or more, perched on the same tree, often de- 

 lighted me with their choruses, now and then varied with the still clearer 

 notes of one or two White-throated Finches, that, like leaders of an or- 

 chestra, seemed to mark time for the woodland choristers. Toward the 

 close of the day their single notes were often repeated, and sounded like 

 those of a retreat. They seemed to hop and dance about among the 

 branches, mixing with the " White-throats," and enjoying a general con- 



