218 A BIRD-LOVERS APRIL. 



and we can't waste the whole of it in getting 

 ready." I never could discover that his elo- 

 quence produced much effect, however. Her 

 ladyship will have her own way ; as indeed she 

 ought to have, good soul, considering that she 

 is to have the discomfort and the hazard. In 

 one case I was puzzled by the fact that there 

 seemed to be two females to one of the opposite 

 sex. It really looked as if the fellow proposed 

 to set up housekeeping with whichever should 

 first find a house to her mind. But this is 

 slander, and I hasten to take it back. No 

 doubt I misinterpreted his behavior ; for it is 

 true — with sorrow I confess it — that I am as 

 yet but imperfectly at home in the Sialian dia- 

 lect. 



For the first fortnight my note-book is full of 

 the fox-colored sparrows. It was worth while 

 to have come into the country ahead of time, 

 as city people reckon, to get my fill of this 

 Northern songster's music. Morning and night, 

 wherever I walked, and even if I remained in- 

 doors, I was certain to hear the loud and beau- 

 tiful strain ; to which I listened with the more 

 attention because the birds, I knew, would soon 

 be off for their native fields, beyond the boun- 

 daries of the United States. 



It is astonishing how gloriously birds may 

 sing, and yet pass unregarded. We read of 



