4 EVERYDAY BIRDS 
but my own opinion. Let my readers hear the 
bird, and judge for themselves. They will enjoy 
him, whether or no. Every such new acquaint- 
ance that a man makes is a new source of life- 
long happiness. 
The enormous California vulture is said to be 
almost dumb, having “no vocal apparatus” and 
“emitting only a weak hissing sound.” What 
a contrast between him and the ruby-crown, —a 
mere speck of a bird, but with a musical nature 
and the voice of anartist. Precious stuff, they 
say, comes in small packages. Even the young- 
est of us may have noticed that it is always the 
smaller birds that sing. 
But if all the singers are small birds, it is not 
true that all small birds are singers. The golden- 
crowned kinglet, for example, is hardly to be 
classed under that head. The gifts of Providence 
are various, and are somewhat sparingly dealt 
out. One creature receives one gift, another 
creature another, — just as is true of men, women, 
and children. This boy “has an ear,’ as the 
saying goes. He is naturally musical. Give him 
a chance, and let him not be too much in love 
with something else, and he will make a singer, 
or a player on instruments, or possibly a com- 
poser. His brother has no ear; he can hardly 
tell Old Hundred from Yankee Doodle. It is 
