66 



PALM WARBLER— SHARP-TAILED FINCH— TREE SPARROW. 



intervals, 'tsh', 'tsh', 'tsh', 'tsh', 'tsha'ia, or tshe, tshe, tsh, tshayia, 

 tshe, tshe, — this last phrase rather plaintive and interrogatory, as 

 if expecting the recognition of its mate. The Summer Yellow- 

 bird, to attract attention from its nest, when sitting, or when the 

 nest contains young, sometimes feigns lameness, hanging its tail 

 and head, and fluttering feebly along in the path of the spectator. 

 At other times, when certain that the intrusion had proved harm- 

 less, the bird would only go off a few feet, utter a feeble complaint, 

 or remain wholly silent, and almost instantly resume her seat." 



The length of this species is five inches, and its extent about 

 seven inches. 



The Palm, op Yellow Red-poll Warbler. (Dendroeca falmarum^) 



Fig. 12. 



Late authorities agree that the Palm Warbler is an abundant 

 species, and may be seen in good numbers during winter in the 

 South. "It passes rapidly," says Coues, "through the Middle 

 and Western States early in the spring, sometimes reaching the 

 Connecticut valley before the snow is gone, and returns more leis- 

 urely in autumn, lingering late by the way. It is found in New 

 England through October, and has even been seen in Massachu- 

 setts in November. Its habits are somewhat peculiar, some of 

 them, such as the continual jetting of the tail and fondness for the 

 ground, recalling the Seiuri rather than a bird of its own genus. 

 Unlike most Warblers, it is rarely, if ever, found in high thick 

 woods, being partial to coppices, hedge-rows, straggling shrub- 

 bery, and especially old waste fields, where it delights to ramble 

 and flutter in company with Yellow-rumps and various kinds of 

 Sparrows. It keeps much on the ground, running among the weeds 

 and stubble, and even on the open dust of the wayside, with a pe- 

 culiar tremulousness, something like that of the Titlark. Its song, 

 if it have one, I have never heard. Its only note, with us, is a 

 slight HsifJ indistinguishable from that of several of its allies. 

 This is corroborated by Dr. Brewer, as I learn from an early proof- 

 sheet of his work. He says : ' They have no other song than a 

 few simple and feeble notes, so thin and weak that they might 

 almost be mistaken for the sounds made by the common grass- 

 hopper.' " 



Maynard says: "The constant watchfulness of these birds, 

 which is exhibited by every movement, is necessary for their ex- 

 istence, for they usually inhabit open places, where they are in 

 constant danger from the attacks of enemies. At Key West, this 

 vigilance frequently saved their lives, for a Sparrow, Pigeon, or 

 Broad-winged Hawk would often come sweeping over them, and, 

 without a moment's warning, would dart like a flash at a Warbler ; 

 but such forays almost always proved unsuccessful ; for, although 

 the swoop of the Hawk was so rapid that the eye could scarcely 

 follow its movements, yet the Red-poll was on the alert, and, ut- 

 tering a shrill chirp of alarm, would instantly shoot into the nearest 

 prickly pear or mass of tangled vines, where it was safe from the 

 pursuer." The same good authority also says : " They are seldom 

 quiet for an instant ; for, when perching, they are ever turning 

 their little heads right and left, while their bright eyes are carefully 

 scanning everything far or near. Their tails are also constantly 

 moving up and down. This lattter peculiarity at once distinguishes 

 the Yellow Red-polls from all other North American Warblers, for 

 none beside have this habit." 



Its nest-building is described by Dr. Brewer as follows : 



" The Red-poll usually selects for the site of its nest the edge 

 of a swampy thicket, more or less open, placing it invariably upon 

 the ground. They are usually not large, about three and a half 

 inches in diameter and two and a half in depth, the diameter and 

 depth of the cavity averaging each only half an inch less. The 

 walls are compactly and elaborately constructed of an interweav- 

 ing of various fine materials, chiefly fine, dry grasses, slender 

 strips of bark, stems of the smaller plants, hypnum and other 



mosses. Within, the nest is warmly and softly lined with down 

 and feathers." 



The length of this species is five inches, and its extent is eight 

 inches. 



PLATE XLVIII. 



The Sharp-tailed Finch. (Ammodromus candacutus.) 



Fig. i. 



This species is mostly confined to the neighborhood of the salt- 

 marshes on the coast, and during the breeding-season, is seldom to 

 be met with more than a few miles from such localities. It is a 

 peculiar species of North American bird. In its habits, it resem- 

 bles those of the Sea-side Finch, of which Wilson says : " It 

 inhabits the low, rush-covered sea islands along our Atlantic 

 coast, where I first found it; keeping almost continually within 

 the boundaries of tide-water, except when long and violent east 

 and northeasterly storms, with high tides, compel it to seek the 

 shore. On these occasions, it courses along the margin, and 

 among the holes and interstices of the weeds and sea-wrack, with 

 a rapidity equaled only by the nimblest of our Sand-pipers, and 

 very much in their manner. At these times, also, it roosts on the 

 ground, and runs about after dusk." The food of this species 

 consists chiefly of small shell-fish and fragments of small sea- 

 crabs. The nest is usually built the latter part of May, in a 

 tussock of grass above the tide-marks, and is constructed exter- 

 nally of coarse grasses strongly woven together, and lined with finer 

 grasses and sea-weed. The eggs are four to five in number, and 

 of a bluish-white color, sprinkled over with fine purplish-brown 

 dots ; these dots are more numerous near the greater end. The 

 length of this species is five and a quarter inches, and about seven 

 inches broad. 



The Canadian, or Tree Sparrow. (Sfiizella montzcola.) 



Fig. 2. 



In its habitat, this species may be said to take in all portions 

 of North America. West of the Rocky Mountains, and in the 

 United States, it is only occasionally met with. Eastward it is 

 very abundant, and in great numbers makes its winter-quarters 

 in the Middle States, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, and 

 sometimes reaches as far as the Carolinas. It is a very hardy 

 bird, and is evidently suited to a cold climate, as it is often found 

 to winter in New England and the Canadas. Its breeding-range 

 extends from Labrador to Maine. Its nest is placed on trees, 

 bushes, or the ground, and is formed externally of mud and dry 

 grass, and lined with soft hair or down. According to Coues: 

 " The eggs are much like that of the Song Sparrow, being pale- 

 bluish, speckled and blotched with different shades of reddish- 

 brown. It measures about three-fourths of an inch long by three- 

 fifths in breadth." 



The same author also says, in narrating his observations of this 

 species, at Fort Randall : 



"All the undergrowth of the river-bottom was full of them, in 

 troops sometimes numbering hundreds, singing as gaily, it seemed 

 to me, as in spring-time. With the colder weather of the follow- 

 ing month, so many moved off that I thought none would remain 

 to endure the rigor of winter, but such proved to be not the case. 

 The remainder simply retreated to the deepest recesses of the 

 shrubbery, where, protected from the biting winds, if not from the 

 cold, they passed the winter, and to all appearances very comfort- 

 ably. I account for their remaining at this inclement season, by 

 the profusion of seeds of various kinds that are to be obtained 

 during the whole winter ; certainly, those that 1 shot were in good 

 condition, and generally had the crop well filled. Their seclusion 



