118 STUDIES IN THE HELD AND FOREST. 



habits of the skylark. But though they have been 

 occasionally heard to sing in New England, while on 

 their passage to a southern latitude, in the month of 

 October, they cannot be reckoned among our own sing- 

 ing birds. The whippoorwill is our Philomel, though 

 his monotonous notes hardly deserve to be called a 

 song. There is a species of snipe in this country, 

 which has some of the habits of the skylark, rising like 

 that bird, both in the morning, and in the evening, just 

 after dark. After chirping awhile, he commences a 

 spiral flight upwards, beginning in a wide circle, which 

 continually narrows as he ascends, until he has arrived 

 at the summit of his flight. He then sustains himself 

 in a hovering position for the space of about half a 

 minute, chattering and chirping very agreeably ; after 

 which, he descends in a spiral flight to the ground. 

 This amusement is continued for the space of two or 

 three hours. 



The little hair-bird that sings incessantly in the morn- 

 ings of spring and early summer, often utters his single 

 trilling note, at intervals throughout the night, in May 

 and June ; but his notes are not much louder than those 

 of a grasshopper. The rose-breasted grossbeak, whose 

 notes I have never had the good fortune to hear, is said 

 to be a nocturnal warbler. This bird is seldom seen in 

 the New England States. It is said to frequent the 

 remote north-west territory ; and the species is numer- 

 ous in the forests along the south shore of Lake Erie, 

 where it breeds. These birds are said to pass the 

 greater part of the night in singing, in the most delight- 

 ful manner. 



The ornithologists of the Old and New continents 

 have long been at variance in their opinions of the com- 

 parative merits of their native singing birds. Buffon, 



