Midsummer Memoranda 



of the horny substance (resembUng red 

 sealing wax) which tips the feathers that 

 terminate at the middle of each wing, 

 it being from this peculiar mark that he 

 takes his name. Then he boasts in addition 

 some striking dashes of black and white 

 around the eye, along the edges of the 

 wing, and upon the tail; these completing 

 an array which invests him with a truly 

 strange atmosphere of distinction in keep- 

 ing with his habits. 



Notwithstanding his soKtary disposition, 

 the Cedar Bird is not at all impossible to 

 find in our climate by the end of May, 

 and he is well worth adding to your list 

 of intimate acquaintances, his very oddity 

 creating a special fascination and interest 

 which you will hardly fail to feel at once. 



That loud, insolent whisthng you hear 

 from somewhere up in the buttonwood 

 tree is the voice of the Yellow-breasted 

 Chat; and at the moment, for special 

 reasons, his notes are at their worst. 



Most Wood Warblers are entirely sweet 

 and subdued in all their music and bird- 



[1471 



