44
Concord, Mass.
1898.
April 5
(No 2)
  The Fox Sparrows, as is their wont during
a snow-storm at this season, sang all day
long at short intervals, sometimes singly but
oftener two or three in quick succession, one
taking up the theme directly his predecessor
ceased [sic] [ceasing] or even breaking in on him at the
last of his song. It was indeed a glorious
concert when several birds were thus engaged,
their rich, wild notes rising and falling all
around the log cabin in which I sat writing.
The song of the different individuals varied
greatly in form as well as in duration
some lasting twice as long as other but each
bird apparently always sang in precisely
the same way on different occasions.
  The seed became, at times, covered with snow
but the Fox Sparrows quickly uncovered it by
"scratching". Watching this operation carefully,
with the Sparrows only eight or ten feet from
my window, I satisfied myself fully as to
how it is done. The bird first makes a forward
hop from one to three inches and the instant 
it strikes the ground jumps backward to the
starting point carrying with it all the snow,
leaves or other light surface covering that its 
large feet have beneath them, often flinging
this debris six or eight inches to the rear,
and at each hop exposing a small space of
bare earth within convenient reach and
directly in front of where it was at first
standing. The forward motion is so very quick