308 NOTES ON NEW ENGLAND BIRDS 



abundant, peopling each bush, willow, or alder for a 

 quarter of a mile, and pursuing each other as if now 

 selecting their mates. It is their song which especially 

 fills the air, made an incessant and undistinguishable 

 trill and jingle by their numbers. 



March 20, 1855. A flurry of snow at 7 a. m. I go to 

 turn my boat up. Four or five song sparrows are flitting 

 along amid the willows by the waterside. Probably they 

 came yesterday with the bluebirds. From distant trees 

 and bushes I hear a faint tinkling te te te te te and at 

 last a full strain whose rhythm is whit whit whit, ter 

 tche, tchear tche, deliberately sung, or measuredly, while 

 the falling snow is beginning to whiten the ground, — 

 not discouraged by such a reception. 



March 21, 1855. The song sparrow is now seen 

 dodging behind the wall, with a quirk of its tail, or flit- 

 ting along the alders or other bushes by the side of the 

 road, especially in low ground, and its pleasant strain is 

 heard at intervals in spite of the cold and blustering 

 wind. It is the most steady and resolute singer as yet, 

 its strain being heard at intervals throughout the day, 

 more than any as yet peopling the hedgerows. 



March 22, 1855. I hear a song sparrow on an alder- 

 top sing ozit ozit oze-e-e | (quick) tchip tchip tchip tchip 

 tchay | te tchip ter che ter tchay ; also the same short- 

 ened and very much varied. Heard one sing uninter- 

 ruptedly, i. e. without a pause, almost a minute. 



April 22, 1855. See a song sparrow getting its break- 

 fast in the water on the meadow like a wader. 



April 6, 1856. Apparently song sparrows may have 

 the dark splash on each side of the throat but be 



