BIRD-SONGS. 43 



chee. It is nothing wonderful that he should 

 sing on the wing, — many other birds do the 

 same, and very much better than he ; but he is 

 singular in that he strictly reserves his aerial 

 music for late in the afternoon. I have heard 

 it as early as three o'clock, but never before 

 that, and it is most common about sunset. 

 Writers speak of it as limited to the season of 

 courtship ; but I have heard it almost daily till 

 near the end of July, and once, for my special 

 benefit, perhaps, it was given in full — and re- 

 peated — on the first day of September. But 

 who taught the little creature to do this, — to 

 sing one song in the forenoon, perched upon a 

 twig, and to keep another for afternoon, sing- 

 ing that invariably on the wing ? and what dif- 

 ference is there between the two in the mind 

 of the singer ? ^ 



It is an indiscretion ever to say of a bird 

 that he has only such and such notes. You 

 may have been his friend for years, but the 

 next time you go into the woods he will likely 

 enough put you to shame by singing something 

 not so much as hinted at in your description. 

 I thought I knew the song of the yellow-rum ped 

 warbler, liaving listened to it many times, — a 



1 Since this paper was written I have three times heard the wood 

 wagtail's true song in the morning, — but in neither case was the 

 bird in the air. See p. 284. 



