300 NOTES ON NEW ENGLAND BIRDS 



" huckleberry-bird." It sits on a birch and sings at short 

 intervals, apparently answered from a distance. It is 

 clear and sonorous heard afar; but I found it quite im- 

 possible to tell from which side it came ; sounding like 

 phe,phe,phe,pher-pher-tw-tw-tw-t-t-t-t, — the first three 

 slow and loud, the next two syllables quicker, and the 

 last part quicker and quicker, becoming a clear, sono- 

 rous trill or rattle, like a spoon in a saucer. 



April 30, 1852. Half an hour before sunset. The 

 robins sing powerfully on the elms ; the little frogs peep ; 

 the woodpecker's harsh and long-continued cry is heard 

 from the woods ; the huckleberry-bird's simple, sono- 

 rous trill. 



May 1, 1852. The tinkle of the huckleberry-bird 

 comes up from the shrub oak plain. He commonly lives 

 away from the habitations of men, in retired bushy fields 

 and sprout-lands. 



April 13, 1854. On the hill near Moore's hear the 

 F. juncorum, — phe-phe-phe-phe-phe, pher-phe-e-e-e-e- 

 e-e-e. How sweet it sounds in a clear warm morning 

 in a wood-side pasture amid the old corn-hills, or in 

 sprout-lands, a [sic] clear and distinct, " like a spoon in 

 a cup," the last part very fast and ringing. 



June 24, 1857. Returning, heard a fine, clear note 

 from a bird on a white birch near me, — whit whit, whit 

 whit, whit whit, (very fast) ter phe phe phe, — sound- 

 ing perfectly novel. Looking round, I saw it was the 

 huckleberry-bird, for it was near and plain to be seen. 



April 22, 1859. When setting the pines at Walden 



bird of the upland pastures. The scientific name now in use for the field 

 sparrow is Spizella pusilla.] 



