Page:Bird-lore Vol 01.djvu/337



A Study of a Lincoln's Sparrow
BY WILLIAM BREWSTER

AT Concord, Massachusetts, in the spring of 1899, I liad a rare opportunity of studying the habits and notes of a Lincoln's Sparrow, The bird appeared May 15th in a thicket of bushes within a few yards of the log cabin where I was living, and remained there until the 22nd, spending apparently the whole of this period within a space a few yards square. On the edge of the thicket, in a bed of ferns about fifteen feet from the cabin door, I scattered daily a quantity of millet seed. This convenient supply of a food irresistible to most of the Sparrow tribe had, no doubt, much to do with the prolonged visit of the Lincoln's Finch, although the weather, during his entire stay, was too cool and threatening to be favorable for migration. He was shy at first and at all times alert and suspicious, but he showed a nice and, on the whole, wise discrimination in his judg- ment of different sights and sounds. He soon learned to disregard noises made within the cabin, as well as the rumble and roar of trains passing along the railroad across the river ; but if our door was suddenly thrown open or if a footstep was heard approaching along the path he at once deserted the millet and retreated into the thicket, dodging from bush to bush and keeping behind anything that would serve as a screen until all became quiet again, when he would reappear at the fern bed and, after a short reconnoissance, resume his interrupted meal. However busily engaged he might be, no sight nor sound escaped him. If a Chipmunk rustled the dry leaves on the neighboring hillside he would erect his body and crane up his neck, turning his head slowly from side to side to watch and listen. There were many Chimney Swifts flying about, and when one passed low overhead, with a sound of rushing wings, the Sparrow would cower close to the ground like a frightened Partridge or Woodcock and remain motionless for a minute or more. But if nothing oc- curred to excite his apprehensions he would continue to feed busily and unconcernedly until his appetite was satisfied. Truly an alert, keen-witted little traveler, quite alive to all the possible as well as obvious dangers that surrounded him, but too experienced and cool- headed to give way to those senseless panics which so often seize upon many of our smaller birds. Some of the seed had sifted down under the leaves, and for this our bird scratched diligently like a Fox Sparrow, making first a forward hop of about two inches, then a vigorous backward jump