152 
POPULAR HISTOEY OP EIEDS. 
bar of ^Oh dear^ what can the matter be !Mn a clear tone^ 
as if played on a piccolo fife ; and though the distinctness 
of the notes rendered them at first very pleasing, yet, as 
they haunted us up to the Arctic Circle, and were loudest 
at midnight, we came to wish occasionally that the cheerful 
little songster would time his serenades better. It is a cu- 
rious illustration of the indifference of the native population 
to almost every animal that does not yield food or fur, or 
otherwise contribute to their comfort or discomfort, that 
none of the Iroquois or Chippeways of our company knew 
the bird by sight, and they all declared boldly that no one 
ever saw it. We were however enabled, after a little trou- 
ble, to identify the songster, his song, and breeding-place. 
The nest is framed of grass, and placed on the ground, 
under shelter of some small inequality ; the eggs, five in 
number, are greyish or purplish-^^hite, thickly spotted with 
brow^n ; and the male hides himself in a neighbouring bush 
while he serenades his mate'^.''^ So much for the difference 
between eyes and no eyes ! 
Some of the finches found by Mr. Darwin on the Gala- 
pagos are remarkable for the great thickness and hardness 
of their beak. They form the genus Geosjoiza (Plate X. 
* Arctic Searching Expedition, vol. i. p. 78. 
