126 
PINE WOOD FINCH. 
HABITS. ' 
The piney woods in the immediate vicinity of Lake Harney, Florida, are among the 
finest that I ever saw in the state. A narrow strip of marsh or hummock borders the 
water, but back of this the vast plains stretch away in the distance with the large brown 
tree trunks rising at intervals, while high over head wave the branches covered with 
evergreen leaves. There are but few of the lofty limbs and therefore they cast but little 
shadow, thus the ground is covered with green grass in profusion and is sprinkled with 
wild flowers of varied hue. Some ten years ago I visited this lovely region for the first 
time. Then everything was in its primitive state, for there was but one settler on the 
east side of the lake and, as he cultivated but a very small portion of the soil, the coun¬ 
try was a wilderness, there not being another house or cabin within twenty-five miles. 
Then the deer roamed in herds and it was not an uncommon occurance to meet with a 
dozen in one morning’s walk. They found ample pasturage in the luxuriant growth of 
short grass which covered the earth with a soft carpet. 
This grass formed a place of concealment for many birds, and it was here that I first 
became acquainted with the Pine Wood Finch. I was walking through the woods one 
morning, when a little bird started from nearly under my feet, flew a short distance, then 
dropped and disappeared. Anxious to obtain it, I endeavored in vain to start it a second 
time, but shortly after I took a specimen and recognized it as the species under consider¬ 
ation. This was in winter when they are difficult to find but later, by the last of March 
or first of April, they are more abundant and much easier to obtain. Then the males 
make themselves more prominent for they are in full song. Early in the morning, when 
the delicate sun-dews and rare orchids are sparkling with dew-drops, when all is silent save 
the distant cry of the Sandhill Crane or the low murmur of the gentle breeze in the tree 
tops, the melodious strains of the Pine Wood Finch are heard to the best advantage.' 
There are few among the many brilliant songsters of this family which surpass our little 
friends. Seated on a branch of some fallen tree or a low limb of a pine, they pour forth 
the sweetest warbling carol that I ever heard in Florida. When I first listened to the bird 
I could not believe that it was a sparrow, for there is a kind of ventriloquism about the 
sound, causing it to so completely fill the air that it is not easy to distinguish the exact 
spot from which it comes. After giving his performance for some time the male flies down 
into the gross to join his mate. 
At first the song is only given morning and evening, but a little later the birds sing 
at intervals all day continuing until long after sunset. They breed about the middle of 
April placing the nest on the ground, concealing it in the higher patches of grass. The 
young are able to fly by the first of June. The Pine Wood Finch is very abundant through¬ 
out Northern and Middle Florida in summer but I looked for it without success in suitable 
localities at Miami. I found a few about Cedar Keys in winter and, as above stated, at 
Lake Harney, but I do not think that very many pass the winter in the state. I was sur¬ 
prised to find them breeding at Wilmington, North Carolina, in June, but I did not find 
them there in winter a few years later. 
