Birds from a Sick Man^s Window 95 



pair of indigo buntings. I suspect that they were out for- 

 aging or house-hunting, rather than intending^ to call, but 

 when they heard that I was ill, they were kind enough to 

 stay for quite ten minutes to gossip with me. At any rate 

 they did not leave the witch-hazel until we had had quite 

 a visit together. 



I can not neglect longer the mention of the English 

 Sparrow. He and I have been bad friends for a long time, 

 and when we meet on the streets we do not notice each 

 other. The dislike is reciprocal, deep-seated, and well- 

 founded. Between his family and mine is a long record 

 of enmity and persecution. But in all justice, I must ad- 

 mit that he and many of his relatives appeared before my 

 window, and though they chattered noisily and ill-man- 

 ueredly, as is their wont, they spent long hours entertain- 

 ing me; I feel now that probably some of my antipathy 

 toward his family may be misplaced, at any rate somewhat 

 unnecessary. 



Likewise the cat-bird rose considerably in my estima- 

 tion. He and his mate came to see me often, and though I 

 had never had any quarrel with them, I had not fully ap- 

 preciated before their whole-souled optimism and friend- 

 liness. He sang often to me, especially in the mornings. 

 I was quite won by the friendly familiarity of the family, 

 and I have assured myself that in the future I shall more 

 confidently and openmindedly cultivate their acquaintance. 

 They are nothing if not shrewd, and neighborly. 



The yellow-billed cuckoos, the mourning doves, and the 

 yellow-breasted chats were other daily callers. The cuckoos 

 came to tell me of impending rains that never came, but I 

 never grew tired of watching their swelling throats as they 

 uttered their queer notes. The mourning doves acted in 

 much the same manner when giving voice to their plaintive 

 coos so that I wondered if -they had been trained in the 

 same schools. I was pleased and flattered by the visits 

 the chats paid me, for I had never before become well ac- 

 quainted with them. 



