60 LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 



observer, no matter how mucli in love lie 

 may be with his particular method of study, 

 and no matter how determined he may be to 

 stick to it, sees a time once in a great while 

 when a bird in the hand would be so much 

 better than two in the bush that his fingers 

 fairly itch for something to shoot with. 

 From what I know of one such man, I am 

 sure it would be exaggerating their tender- 

 ness of heart to imagine observers of this 

 kind incapable of taking a bird's life under 

 any circumstances. In fact, it may be 

 partly a distrust of their own self-restraint, 

 under the provocations of curiosity, that 

 makes them eschew the use of firearms alto- 

 gether. 



My mystery on the present occasion was 

 a female warbler, — of so much I felt rea- 

 sonably assured ; but by what name to call 

 her, that was a riddle. Her upper parts 

 were " not olive, but of a neutral bluish 

 gray," with light wing-bars, " not conspicu- 

 ous, but distinct," while her lower parts 

 were " dirty, but unstreaked." What at 

 once impressed me was her "bareheaded 

 appearance " (I am quoting my penciled 

 memorandum), with a big eye and a light 



