BIRD BIOGRAPHIES 



that it is useful — a kind of virtue that gets its chief re- 

 ward in heaven. I am acquainted with only four of the 

 odier nine eastern members, [besides the phoebe], the 

 great crested flycatcher, kingbird, wood pewee, and 

 chebec, — and each of these has some redeeming attribute 

 besides the habit of catching flies. 



"They are all good nest-builders, good parents, and 

 brave, independent birds; but aside from phoebe and 

 pewee — the latter in his small way the sweetest voice 

 of the oak woods — the whole family is an odd lot, cross- 

 grained, cross-looking, and about as musical as a family 

 of ducks. A duck seems to know that he cannot sing. 

 A flycatcher knows nothing of his shortcomings. He be- 

 lieves that he can sing, and in time he will prove it. 

 If desire and eff"ort count for anything, he certainly must 

 prove it in time. How long the family has already been 

 training no one knows. Everybody knows, however, the 

 success each flycatcher of them has thus far attained. 

 It would make a good minstrel show, doubtless, if the 

 family would appear together. In chorus, surely, they 

 would be far from a tuneful choir. Yet individually, 

 in the wide universal chorus of the out-of-doors, how 

 much we should miss the kingbird's metallic twitter and 

 the chebec's insistent call!" ^ 



iFrom "The Whole Year Round," by Dallas Lore Sharp. 



[244] 



