LEARNING BIRDS' SONGS 65 



the warbler and two of the cowblrd. It was a case 

 of a typical female blue-wing mated with a Law- 

 rence's hybrid — a fine and rare discovery, due en- 

 tirely to our knowing the bird's notes. This suggests 

 what can be done in many other cases. 



There is nothing in bird-study more puzzling to 

 the beginner than early on a fine morning about the 

 middle of May, when the spring migration is in full 

 tide, to be out amid the wonderful chorus of bird- 

 voices and try to recognize the individual songs. It 

 is more difficult than to segregate the different instru- 

 ments of the orchestra in a symphony, for it is the 

 symphony of Nature, a grander one than even the 

 immortal Beethoven could devise. It is the model 

 for the ** symphonic poem," compared with which 

 even so ingenious an one as Liszt's " St. Francis 

 Preaching to the Birds " falls far short. More in- 

 struments and kinds of instruments play in this orches- 

 tra than in the wildest dreams of the very latest dis- 

 ciples of Wagner and Strauss. Its grandeur and 

 elaboration are indeed confusing. While trying to 

 hear one bird, a score break in, with not only the reg- 

 ulation notes but every variation upon them of which 

 they are capable. 



For this reason I consider that the best time to 

 begin bird-study is the early spring, say in the cool 

 weather of late March or early April, before the 

 great host of birds begin to arrive. The morning is 

 the best time for songs, especially early in the season, 

 though there is some singing all day, and along in the 



