330 KENTUCKY WABBLE R 



the wreii-like song we had been following, and on 

 a low bush, with head thrown back, the bird was 

 singing. But — the hroicn Wren was a brilliant 

 yellow, with black, velvety bands bordering his 

 throat ! A Kentucky Warbler, we exclaimed in 

 excited whispers, and then stood silent, afraid of 

 startling the bird that, quite unmindful of us, now 

 hopped down to the ground, and now mounted a 

 bush to sing. ' Klur-wee^ Mur-ioee^ Iduv-mee^ we 

 repeated after him, to test for ourselves Mr. Tor- 

 rey's phrasing of it, and indeed, at times the 

 bird pronounced the syllables as distinctly as a 

 person. And with what richness of tone ! Surely 

 it is a song that goes well with the songster. Mr. 

 Torrey, referring to his notebook, copies the ex- 

 clamation made in the field, " It is a beauty ! " 

 and no one seeing the bird for the first time in 

 such a setting as we saw him can fail to share his 

 enthusiasm. 



But how about the Carolina Wren ? We did 

 not say much about that on the spot, but when 

 we got home and consulted the books our self- 

 respect was restored, for they say that the Ken- 

 tucky's song resembles that of both Wren and 

 Cardinal, the two birds whose notes are so puz- 

 zlingly similar. 



