82 LIFE-HISTORIES OF BIRDS 



trees, the subject of our sketch seldom aspires to 

 such loftiness, but rather delights in low situations, 

 where among the small bushes that line our water- 

 courses, it derives a scanty and precarious subsis- 

 tence; these places it occasionally deserts for a 

 pile of brush, or the prostrate trunk of a decayed 

 tree. The larvae and small beetles which are found 

 in decomposed wood, constitute an essential part 

 of its food ; the "debris which accumulates in such 

 places, affording a suitable nidus for insects. When 

 there is a paucity of the latter, the seeds of 

 various plants, particularly those of asters and 

 panicums, are devoured with avidity. 



In valleys having a southern exposure and 

 hemmed in by high hills, we have seen both males 

 and females, but always isolated from each other. 

 It is well known that animals are prone to congre- 

 gate in times of plenty; but when a scarcity of 

 food-stuffs prevails, a disposition to dissolve into 

 small parties, or pairs, or even into solitary indi- 

 viduals, exists. In view of these facts, may it not 

 be inferred that the subject under consideration, 

 has been brought to -its present mode of living, in 

 conformity to the scarcity of nutrient materials in 

 its environment? Solitary individuals in their 

 "struggle for existence," would thus be better 

 able to survive. 



When spring approaches, the sexes freely as- 

 sociate. Pairing, however, does not take place until 

 the breeding district has been reached. 



According to the opinions of leading ornitholo- 



