A Book on Birds 



The circumstance is attributable of course 

 to their diminutive size, their extremely 

 quiet and retiring habits, and the fact that 

 most of them do not nest here — but farther 

 north, even unto Canada and Labrador 

 and the land of Evangeline. 



But notwithstanding this, our lack of 

 knowledge is still remarkable — for in migrat- 

 ing they are with us sometimes as long as 

 three or four weeks, both spring and fall, 

 and most of them are so wonderfully bright 

 of color that they are nothing less than an 

 embodied joy to behold. 



There are probably as many as twenty- 

 five species that pass our way, in these 

 silent, semi-annual flights of theirs; and 

 upon clear days, as the sunlight discloses 

 them amidst the foliage, they flash and 

 sparkle like precious stones — in their 

 incomparable hues of carmine and gold, 

 sapphire and emerald, brown and ebony, 

 orange and white. 



In all this shining galaxy the Maryland 

 Yellow-throat, the American Redstart, the 

 Yellow-breasted Chat and the Golden- 



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