CHIPPING BUNTING. 
81 
on the ground. It is small and comparatively slender, being formed of a 
scanty collection of line dried grass, and lined with horse or cow hair. The 
eggs are four or live, of a bright greenish-blue colour, slightly marked with 
dark and light-brown spots, chiefly distributed towards the larger end. 
They are more pointed at the small end than is common in this genus. 
Although timorous, these birds express great anxiety when their nest is 
disturbed, especially the female. They generally raise two broods in the 
season, south of Pennsylvania, and not unfrequently in Virginia and Mary- 
land. 
The song of this species, if song it can with propriety be called, is heard 
at all hours of the day, the bird seeming determined to make up by quan- 
tity for defect in the quality of its notes. Mounted on the topmost branch 
of any low tree or bush, or on the end of a fence stake, it emits with rapidity 
six or seven notes resembling the sounds produced by smartly striking two 
pebbles together, each succeeding note rising in strength,, although the song 
altogether is scarcely louder than the chirping of a cricket. It is often heard 
during the calm of a fine night, or in the warmer days of winter. 
These gentle birds migrate by day ; and no sooner has October returned 
and mellowed the tints of the sylvan foliage, than flitting before you on the 
road, you see family after family moving southward, chasing each other as 
if in play, sweeping across the path, or flocking suddenly to a tree if sur- 
prised, but almost instantly returning to the ground and resuming their line 
of marcfi. At the approach of night they throw themselves into thickets 
of brambles, where, in company with several other species, they keep up a 
murmuring conversation until long after dark. Their flight is short, rather 
irregular, and seldom more elevated than the height of moderate-sized trees. 
With the exception of the Sharp-shinned Hawk, the Marsh Hawk, and 
the Black Snake, these birds have few enemies, children being generally 
fond of protecting them. Little or no dilference is perceptible between the 
sexes, and the young acquire the full plumage of their parents at the earliest 
approach of spring. 
I did not find one individual of the species in Newfoundland, Labrador, 
or Nova Scotia. 
I am now of opinion that this small species is altogether confined within 
the range of the United States and a small portion of the eastern adjoining 
provinces. It does not extend westward beyond the head waters of the 
- Missouri, nor south-westward beyond the Opelousas. None were observed 
by the members of my party in Texas. The Chipping Sparrow is almost 
as abundant in our country as the Domestic Sparrow is in Europe, and it is 
nearly as familiar, though otherwise different in its habits. Dr. Brewer 
has sent me the following notice respecting it : “With hardly a single excep- 
Vol. III. 13 
