THE WHITE-CROWNED FINCH. 159 



moss, and were all constructed alike. They deposit their eggs from the 

 beginning to the end of June. In the beginning of August, I saw many 

 young that were able to fly, and by the 12th of that month the birds had 

 already commenced their southward migration. The young follow their 

 parents until nearly full grown. 



The food of this species, while in Labrador, consists of small coleopterous 

 insects, grass-seeds, and a variety of berries, as well as some minute shell- 

 fish, for which they frequently search the margins of ponds or the sea-shore. 

 At the approach of autumn, they pursue insects on the wing, to a short 

 distance, and doubtless secure some in that manner. 



The song of the White-crowned Finch consists of six or seven notes, the 

 first of which is loud, clear, and musical, although of a plaintive nature; the 

 next broader, less firm, and seeming merely a second to the first; the rest 

 form a cadence diminishing in power to the last note, which sounds as if the 

 final effort of the musician. These notes are repeated at short intervals 

 during the whole day, even on those dismal days produced by the thick fogs 

 of the country where it breeds, and where this species is of all the most 

 abundant. The White-throated Finch was also very plentiful, and we found 

 it breeding in the same localities. 



The flight of this interesting bird is usually low, swift, and greatly pro- 

 tracted. It is performed without any jerk of the tail. They migrate mostly 

 by day — I say mostly, because while crossing a great arm of the sea, like 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence, they perhaps may not always be able to accom- 

 plish their transit in one day. 



I have met with this bird in almost every portion of the United States 

 during early spring and autumn, but always either single or in very small 

 groups. I have shot some near New Orleans in April, at Cincinnati, and 

 near New York in May. They reach the Magdeleine Islands, Newfound- 

 land, and the coast of Labrador, about the first of June. Those which I have 

 seen on their passage through the United States were perfectly silent, and 

 usually frequented low bushes and grape-vines, the fruit of which they 

 eagerly eat, but never entering the woods. In every instance I found them 

 as gentle and unsuspicious as whilst at Labrador. 



In the plate are to be seen two of these birds, drawn many years ago, one 

 of them a male in full summer plumage, the other a female in the winter 

 dress. I have no doubt that this species retires far south in Mexico, to spend 

 the winter. It is nearly allied to the White-throated and Fox-tailed Spar- 

 rows, and in its winter plumage it may perhaps prove to be the Fringilla 

 ambigua of my friend Nuttall. 



Male, 1\, 10|. 



