6 WAKE-ROBIN 



people ; and therefore we should expect stability in 

 his workmanship, rather than elegance. 



Another April bird, which makes her appearance 

 sometimes earlier and sometimes later than Robin, 

 and whose memory I fondly cherish, is the phoebe- 

 bird, the pioneer of the flycatchers. In the inland 

 farming districts, I used to notice her, on some 

 bright morning about Easter Day, proclaiming her 

 arrival, with much variety of motion and attitude, 

 from the peak of the barn or hay-shed. As yet, 

 you may have heard only the plaintive, homesick 

 note of the bluebird, or the faint trill of the song 

 sparrow ; and Phoebe's clear, vivacious assurance of 

 her veritable bodily presence among us again is wel- 

 comed by all ears. At agreeable intervals in her 

 lay she describes a circle or an ellipse in the air, 

 ostensibly prospecting for insects, but really, I sus- 

 pect, as an artistic flourish, thrown in to make up 

 in some way for the deficiency of her musical per- 

 formance. If plainness of dress indicates powers of 

 song, as it usually does, then Phoebe ought to be 

 unrivaled in musical ability, for surely that ashen- 

 gray suit is the superlative of plainness ; and that 

 form, likewise, would hardly pass for a ^' perfect 

 figure " of a bird. The seasonableness of her com- 

 ing, however, and her civil, neighborly ways, shall 

 make up for all deficiencies in song and plumage. 

 After a few weeks Phoebe is seldom seen, except as 

 she darts from her moss-covered nest beneath some 

 bridge or shelving cliff. 



Another April comer, who arrives shortly after 



