22 C H I P P I N G SPARROW.
with rapidity six or seven notes resembling the sounds produced by smartly
striking two pebbles together, each succeeding note rising in strength,
although the song altogether is scarcely louder than the chirping of a
cricket. It is often heard during the calm of a fine night, or in the warmer
days of winter.
These gentle birds migrate by day; and no sooner has October returned
and mellowed the tints of the sylvan foliage, than flitting before
you on the road, you see family after family moving southward, chasing
each other as if in play, sweeping across the path, or flocking suddenly to
a tree if surprised, but almost instantly returning to the ground and resuming
their line of march. At the approach of night they throw themselves
into thickets of brambles, where, in company with several other species,
they keep up a murmuring conversation until long after dark. Their
flight is short, rather irregular, and seldom more elevated than the height
of moderate-sized trees.
With the exception of the Sharp-shinned Hawk, the Marsh Hawk,
and the Black Snake, these birds have few enemies, children being generally
fond of protecting them. Little or no difference is perceptible between
the sexes, and the young acquire the full plumage of their parents
at the earliest approach of spring.
I did not find one individual of the species in Newfoundland, Labrador,
or Nova Scotia.
FRINGILLA SOCIALIS, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. p. 109.
CHIPPING SPARROW, FRINGILLA SOCIALIS, Wih. Amcr. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 127.
PI. 1G. Fig. 5 Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. p. 497-
Adult male. Plate CIV.
Bill short, rather small, conical, acute; upper mandible rather narrower
than the lower, very slightly declinate at the tip, rounded on the
sides, as is the lower, which has the edges inflected and acute; the gap
line straight, slightly deflected at the base. Nostrils basal, roundish,
concealed by the feathers. Llead rather large, neck short, body robust.
Legs of moderate length, slender; tarsus longer than the middle toe,
covered anteriorly with a few longish scutella; toes scutcllate above, free,
the lateral ones nearly equal; claws slender, greatly compressed, acute,
slightly arched, that of the hind toe little larger.
Plumage soft, rather compact. Wings shortish, curved, rounded, the
C H I P P I N G S P A R R O W . 23
third and fourth quills longest, the second nearly as long, the first little
shorter. Tail rather long, emarginate.
Bill dusky. Iris brown. Feet flesh-colour. Upper part of the head,
anterior portion of the back, and scapulars, bright chestnut, with blackishbrown
spots, the middle of each feather being of the latter colour. Sides
of the neck and rump light greyish-blue, as are the smaller wing-coverts.
Quills, larger coverts and first row of smaller, dusky, the two latter tipped
with white, the former more or less margined with chestnut. Tail dusky,
the feathers edged with pale ochre. A white line over the eye, and the
lower parts generally of a greyish-white.
Length 5\ inches, extent of wings 8 ; bill little more than }.
The Female differs only in having the tints generally less intense. In
winter, both have a blackish frontlet.
THE BLACK LOCUST OR FALSE ACACIA.
ROBINIA PSEUDACACIA, Willd. Sp. P I . vol. iii. p. 1 1 3 1 . Pursh, Flor. Amer. vol. ii.
p. 487—DIADELPHIA DECANDRIA, Linn. LEGUMINOSJE, JUSS.
This beautiful tree grows in the mountainous parts of the United
States, from Canada to Carolina. Its wood, which is of great durability,
is employed for various purposes, and particularly for gates and fencestakes.
The species is characterised by its spinescent stipules, pendulous
racemes of white, sweet-scented flowers, and large smooth legumes. Although
abundant in the natural state, it is now planted around farms and
plantations, on account of the great value of its timber. It is besides a
charming ornament of our avenues, either in the country, or in the streets
of villages and cities.