SPEINQFiELD, MONDAY, MAY 8. 
IF INTEREST TO LOVERS OF BIRDS. 
/They 8hfl)lld IVot Miss Hearing the Pea- 
f body Bird. 
The -white-throated sparrow or Peabody 
bird, the king of its family, says Robert 0. 
Morris, is now here in great numbers on its 
spring migration, and any one wishing to see 
this bird and hear its facinating song can 
have the opportunity to do so ; but it will be 
seen and heard in and about Springfield only 
for a few days longer, as it soon will have 
passed on to its summer home. Thoreau 
says its notes “are as distinct to the ear as 
the passage of a spark of fire shot into the 
darkness of the forest would be to the eye,'’ 
and one writer says “the notation of its 
song could be easily written on the , 
musical staff. Beginning generally on the 
fifth note of the scale after the first syllable 
it ascends to the eighth or last note, and. ends 
in four syllables more. After the first sylla- 
ble of the song, the bird will sometimes 
utter the second on the second or third note 
of the scale above, and then dropping 
back, will render the remaining three sylla- 
bles on the usual pitch for the ending.” That 
on one occasion it bred in Springfield is not 
generally known, but the following extract 
from the unpublished notes of B. B. Hil- 
dreth, an observer of birds who died here 
about 20 years ago, bears excellent testimony 
that such was the fact. 
August 13, 1867. At Ingersoll’s dell, a quiet 
secluded and shaded spot about a mile from Main 
street, and through which runs a brook, 1 have 
I heard through June, July and this eveniug for the 
last time, a pair of charming white-throated spar- 
rows (Z. albicollis). Probably I have seen and 
heard the pair at least 40 times and always near 
the same spot. A few minutes before sunset I 
generally passed into the dell near the arbor and 
just opposite, mounted on a young elm, I was 
almost always sure of finding the male bird sing- 
ing his best; and although 1 generally took a seat 
on the grass within a dozen yards of him, so far 
from frightening him away, he, seemed to be rather 
f ratified in having even one appreciating listener, 
or frequently I had no sooner taken my 
seat and commenced to imitate his peculiar and 
wild whistle, than he, as if to show me the extent 
of his musical powers and the folly of attempting 
to imitate him, would ruffle up his crown feathers 
and strike up two or three additional notes and 
trill them in a most exquisite prolonging and 
i tremulous sound. This he would repeat for half 
an hour at a time not moving from the same spot 
where he began. These charming interviews were 
kept up through June, July and to August, when 
I saw and heard him for the last time, on the 13th. 
Although I searched diligently I could never dis- 
cover the nest, which was without doubt con- 
cealed at no great distance,” 
; That it breeds in some of the hill towns west. 
of here, which is now an established fact, 
i was surmised by Mr Hildreth, as appears by 
i the following extract from his notes: — 
Saturday, June 1, 1867. On Cool brook in 
Becket, with Dr McClean and George, “trouting.” 
Good luck. Among other pleasant sounds was 
much pleased to hear all day long the wild and 
charming notes of the “white-throated sparrow.” 
Friday, June 7, 1867. This p. m. again on Cool 
brook. Again heard the charming wild whistling 
notes of the white-throated sparrow all the after- 
noon. I am now confident that this rare bird 
breeds in this vicinity. 
If, is an occasional summer resident in 
Worthington, Cummington, Becket, Wash- 
ington, and probably all the high mountain 
towns in Hampshire, Franklin and Berk- 
shire counties, and is common upon the top 
of Graylock, where it has been given the 
name of “mountain lark.” 
