284 A MONTH'S MUSIC. 



to it almost daily for several summers. Thus 

 far it had invariably been given out in the after- 

 noon, and on the wing. To my mind, indeed, 

 this was by far its most interesting feature (for 

 in itself the song is by no means of surpassing 

 beauty), and I had even been careful to record 

 the earliest hour at which I had heard it — three 

 o'clock P. M. But on the 6th of May aforesaid 

 I detected a bird practicing this very tune in 

 the morning, and from a perch ! I set the fact 

 down without hesitation as a wonder, — a purely 

 exceptional occurrence, the repetition of which 

 was not to be looked for. Anything might hap- 

 pen once. Only four days afterwards, however, 

 at half-past six in the morning, I had stooped 

 to gather some peculiarly bright-colored anem- 

 ones (I can see the patch of rosy blossoms at 

 this moment, although I am writing by a blaz- 

 ing fire while the snow is falling without), when 

 my ear caught the same song again ; and keep- 

 ing my position, I soon descried the fellow step- 

 ping through the grass within ten yards of me, 

 caroling as he walked. The hurried warble, 

 with the common Weechee, iveechee, iveechee 

 interjected in the midst, was reiterated perhaps 

 a dozen times, — the full evening strain, but in 

 a rather subdued tone. He was under no excite- 

 ment, and appeared to be entirely by himself ; 

 in fact, when he had made about half the cir- 



