Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/265



This diminutive and elegant species of Finch may certainly be ranked among our constant residents, numerous individuals remaining during the winter within the limits of the Union. In Louisiana and the coun- tries along the Mississippi, as far as Kentucky, and in all the Southern States, as far as Maryland, they are to be found in the coldest weather. In South Carolina they are met with along every hedge-row and in every briar-patch, as well as in the old fields slightly covered with tall slender grasses, on the seeds of which they chiefly subsist during the inclement season. Loose flocks, sometimes of forty or fifty, are seen hopping along the sandy roads, picking up particles of gravel. On the least alarm, they all take to wing, and ahght on the nearest bushes, but the next moment return to the ground. They leave the south as early as March, move northwards as the season advances, and appear in the States of New York and Pennsylvania, about the middle of April.

The song of the Field Sparrow is remarkable, although not fine. It trills its notes like a young Canary Bird, and now and then emits empha- tical, though not very distinct sounds of some length. One accustomed to distinguish the notes of different birds can easily recognise the song of this species; but the description of it, I confess, I am unable to accom- phsh, so at least as to afford you any tolerable idea of it.

It is a social and peaceable bird. When the breeding season is at hand they disperse, move off" in pairs, and throw themselves into old pasture grounds, overgrown with low bushes, on the tops of which the males may be heard practising their vocal powers. They usually breed on the ground, at the foot of a small bush or rank-weed; but I have also found several of their nests on the lower branches of trees, a foot or two from the ground. The nest is simple, formed chiefly of fine dry grasses, in some instances scantily lined with horse-hair or delicate fibrous roots, much resembling hair. The eggs are from four to six, of a light ferruginous tint, produced by the blending of small dots of that colour. So prolific is this species, that I have observed a pair raise three broods in