188 NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. 



the Tennessee River, there was a-plenty of 

 singing and chirjDing. Here were the yellow- 

 breasted chats, the summer warblers, the cat- 

 birds, the Maryland yellowthroats, the indigo 

 birds, the cardinal grossbeaks, the white-eyed 

 and red-eyed viroes, the chippies, and some 

 others. In the tanglewood that bordered a 

 small stream there was a deluge of bird music 

 pouring mostly from the throat of catbirds and 

 cardinals, who were bringing the day to a fit- 

 ting close with their jubilant vesj^ers. 



A Bachman's sparrow acted oddly over on 

 another slope. It sprang up from the ground, 

 and flitted among some blackberry bushes, 

 and then darted across a road and sat on the 

 ground, uttering a nervous sound, which seemed 

 like chirping and singing combined. Breath- 

 lessly I sought for a nest, for that is the man- 

 ner of many birds w^hen they are disturbed in 

 their breeding ; but no nest could be found. 

 It was queer that a bird should behave itself 

 in that way when there was no cause. Pres- 

 ently two sparrows were seen, doubtless a male 

 and a female, and in a few minutes one of them 

 sat on a perch and sang most exquisitely. 



Yet their conduct was no more enigmatical 

 than that of a pair of creeping warblers in the 

 woods near by. The little dame was sitting in 



