May 



so faded out that the species is almost unrecog- 

 nizable so far as the color is concerned ; and 

 perhaps, after all, the bare verbal description, 

 infused with the imagination of the reader, is 

 the best substitute for the living colors. 



On the same day that the oven-bird walked 

 in, another warbler appeared — the redstart, and 

 also the great crested flycatcher, the largest of 

 that family in this region. Female ruby-crowned 

 kinglets, minus the ruby flame, are abundant, 

 and sandpipers are scudding about. The white- 

 throated sparrows on the eve of departure for 

 their summer home are now looking their pret- 

 tiest, for the black, wiiite, and yellow decora- 

 tions of the head are of the purest shade. It 

 seems a little incongruous to find so handsome a 

 head on so plain a body, very much like the 

 combination of a stylish bonnet and a coarse 

 gown. They are now very numerous, and their 

 *' peabody " song is to be heard everywhere; 

 but the snow-birds and red -polls have almost 

 entirely disappeared, their places being taken by 

 the quantities of yellow-rumps, w^iose character- 

 istic note sounds from every bush and tree. 



Skimming over the Lake, one can often see a 

 bevy of barn swallows apparently in the playful 

 chase of '' cross-tag," but having an eye also on 



145 



