80 CHIPPING BUNTING. 



The Dwarf Huckleberry. 



Vaccinium tenellum, Willd.. Sp. PL, vol. ii. p. 353. Pursch, Flor. Amer. Sept., vol. i. 

 p. 289.— Decandria Monogynia, Linn. — Erice, Juss. 



The branches angular, green; leaves sessile, ovato-lanceolate, mucronate, 

 serrulate, glossy on both sides; flowers in sessile clusters; corolla ovate. 

 This plant grows in most of the lands of the Middle and Eastern Districts, 

 both in woods and in open places. Its berries are eaten by various birds, as 

 well as by children. 



CHIPPING BUNTING. 



-^Emberiza socialis, Wils. 

 PLATE CLXV.— Male. 



Few birds are more common throughout the United States than this gentle 

 and harmless little Bunting. It inhabits the towns, villages, orchards, gar- 

 dens, borders of fields, and prairie grounds. Abundant in the whole of the 

 Middle States during spring, summer, and autumn; it removes to the 

 southern parts to spend the winter, and there you may meet with it in flocks 

 almost anywhere, even in the open woods. So social is it in its character 

 that you see it at that season in company with the Song Sparrow, the White- 

 throated, the Savannah, the Field, and almost every other species of the 

 genus. The sandy roads exposed to the sun's rays are daily visited by it, 

 where, among the excrement of horses and cattle, it searches for food, or 

 among the tall grasses of our old fields it seeks for seeds, small berries, and 

 insects of various kinds. Should the weather be cold it enters the barn- 

 yard, and even presents itself in the piazza. It reaches Louisiana, the 

 Carolinas, and other southern districts in November, and returns about the 

 middle of March to the Middle and Eastern States, where it breeds. 



Early in May the Chipping Sparrow has already formed its nest, which 

 it has placed indifferently in the apple or peach tree of the orchard or garden, 

 in any evergreen bush or cedar, high or low, as it may best suit, but never 



