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such a 'remoteness' about their mellow "coo, coo," that only 

 the trained ear of an ornithologist can readily locate the bird. 

 Burroughs speaks of their " clairvoyant call," and Wordsworth, 

 without giving it a name, recognized this quality when he sings 

 of the Cuckoo : 



" While I am lying on the grass, 

 Thy loud note smites my ear; 

 From hill to hill it seems to pass : 

 At once far off and near." 



Lowell, in his charming sketch "My Garden Acquaintance,'' 

 notices this habit of the robins : " When they come after my 

 cherries to the tree near my window, they always muffle their 

 voices, and their faint peep sounds far away at the bottom of 

 the garden. The screech owl also softens its voice in the same 

 way, with the most beguiling mockery of distance." 



Most birds have themes or songs peculiar to their own species, 

 and when we have learned these we recognize them whenever 

 we hear them. Not so, however, of all. Even the common lit- 

 tle goldfinch (Chrysomilris tristis) will often utter a strain so new 

 and strange that those most familiar with it fail for a moment 

 to recognize the author. The purple finch (Carpodacus purpurens) 

 is also a variable singer. Some of his songs are as soft and 

 peaceful as those of the warbling vireo; others wild and sylvan 

 as those of the wood-thrush or winter wren, while still others 

 are loud, sharp, and harsh, with as little melody as the song of 

 the indigo bird. Their songs in different localities also differ so 

 greatly that to the uninitiated they may easily be mistaken for 

 those of other species. I remember a remarkable performance 

 of one of these finches. While gathering rhododendrons in a 

 wet woods near Angola, I was surprised at a strange song that 

 broke the stillness of the quiet afternoon. It was low, sweet, 

 tremulous, running up and down in such quavers of pure melody 

 that for the moment I was sure that I was listening to an un- 

 known singer of rare power, and not until I saw the bird could 

 I believe that it was the familiar purple finch. The young birds 

 had but recently flown from the nest, and two or three of them, 



