96 
1878. 
Passerella iliaca. 
Middlesex County^ Mass. 
5. 
“ 22 . 
Oct, 27. 
Nov. 16. 
(Apr. 3)j were singing incessantly though it was nearly noon 
at the time. The song is characterized by wildness and 
richness of expression, and unusual compass. It is a 
masterpiece of its kind, excelling the song of the Hermit 
Thrush in boldness of execution but of course lacking 
the exquisite serenity and purity of that bird’s perfor¬ 
mance. 
About a foot of damp snow fell last night drifting 
badly in places and loading down the trees. Entering 
the 7/oods behind Mt.Auburn early his morning I found 
the trees fairly laden with moist snow which clung to 
every twig. The adjoining apple orchard was as dense 
and shady as in summer.Even more beautiful was the cedar 
ridge; here the trees, bent in many eases nearly to the 
ground by the weight of the snow, formed arches and cano¬ 
pies, beautiful beyond deseri|btion; the wood path throu^i 
-out this path grove was fairly roofed over by curving 
cedars and yellow pines, the tips of some of the trees 
thirty foot in height actually touching the ground. 
Walking beneath them the charm of their immaculate fea¬ 
thery foliage was indiscribable. A little later the 
snow began to drop off in places revealing patches of 
bright green pine needles contrasting strongly with the 
general dazzling white around. These cedars were fair¬ 
ly alive with Pox Sparrows and I think I never enjoyed 
such a surfeit of fine bird music before; nearly every 
tree had its songster all invisible like concealed musi¬ 
cians in an eHchanted scene. Some of those aer for¬ 
mers excelled any that I have ever heard before. 
One in especial bringing out his superb melody in perfect 
ly moulded bars of rich liquid sound, this bird sang in 
the same leisurely manner as the Hermit Thrush in be¬ 
ginning he invariably hesitated a little after’the first 
note, hxs. song really seemed to unite the best charac¬ 
teristics of the Pox Sparrow with those of the Hermits. 
I listened to him a long time and left the spot with re- 
luetence. For sometime afterward I could catch the 
easily distinguish them 
companions. By noon the snow had all 
molted from the trees and the scene was entirely changed- 
mri b disappeared as I saw fel on 
wLr Sparrows wre in great abundance 
wvery whore to-day, even in the City gardens. They 
sang more or less through the entire day, 
many eyorywhors, mostly In apple orchards; 
many of the males singing gloriously. 
A few still remain. 
Abundant in large flocks (Concord). The first eas 
seen here October 14. ^irsi was 
A single bird, the last of the season (Watertown), 
