352 SINGING BIRDS. 
They sing on the wing in the manner of the Goldfinch. 
Their notes are clear, lively, and mellow, like as in that bird, 
but still sufficiently distinct ; they fly out in the same graceful, 
deep curves, emitting also the common call-note at every 
effort to proceed. 
The history of this interesting bird is but little better known to- 
day than when Nuttall wrote. Our ignorance is partly due to the 
irregular, nomadic habits of the bird, but chiefly because its favorite 
haunts are in out-of-the-way places, amid the deeper recesses of the 
forests, where few observers penetrate. At intervals large flocks 
visit the outskirts of settlements, and even look in upon the vil- 
lages; but these are merely excursions by the way introduced into 
the migration programme. Its habitat is now given as “ North 
America in general, breeding mostly north of the United States.” 
In the east, nests have been found in New York State by Dr. C. 
Hart Merriam and Dr. A. K. Fisher, and a few pairs are known 
to breed yearly in Massachusetts; but the major portion of the 
eastern flocks go to the more northern portions of New England 
and beyond before settling down for the summer. 
The dates usually given for the nesting are early in May; but 
a much earlier time is given by Dr. A. Leith Adams, an Eng- 
lish naturalist who met with the species in New Brunswick. In 
his “ Field and Forest Rambles,” he writes: “It breeds early, and 
has its young flying before the first summer migrants arrive in 
April, when large flocks may be observed feeding on the buds of 
the hawthorn preparatory to their departure northward.” He adds 
that it is a choice cage-bird, and is easily tamed. He kept some 
for several months, and when liberated they all returned to their 
cages after an absence of several days. 
The biography of this species forms an interesting chapter in 
that interesting book, “The Land Birds and Game Birds of New 
England,” by H. D. Minot, —a book, by the way, that has not 
received the recognition its merit deserves. 
