OVER THE DIVIDE AND BACK 133 



reader. However, a mere catalogue would be of slight 

 interest, I apprehend, and therefore mention will be 

 made only of those species which I had not seen else- 

 where, passing by such familiar feathered folk as the 

 Arkansas goldfinches, catbirds, western meadow-larks, 

 Brewer's blackbirds, house-finches, green-tailed towhees, 

 magpies, long-crested jays, summer warblers, and many 

 others, begging their pardon, of course, for paying them 

 such scant courtesy. 



Early on a bright morning I was following one of the 

 streets of the village, when, on reaching the suburbs, I 

 was greeted by a blithe, dulcet trill which could come 

 from no other vocalist than the song-sparrow. His 

 tones and vocalization were precisely like those of Melo- 

 sphafasciata, to which I have so often listened in my 

 native State of Ohio. It was a dulcet strain, and 

 stirred memories half sad, half glad, of many a charming 

 ramble about my eastern home when the song-sparrows 

 were the chief choralists in the outdoor opera festival. 

 Peering into the bushes that fringed the gurgling moun- 

 tain brook, I soon caught sight of the little triller, and 

 found that, so far as I could distinguish them with my 

 field-glass, his markings were just like those of his east- 

 ern relative — the same mottled breast, with the large 

 dusky blotch in the centre. 



Delighted as I was with the bird's aria, I could not 

 decide whether this was the common song-sparrow or 



