216 NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. 



his tune four times in five minutes, as if lie 

 were playing at tiltmills with his voice. You 

 never can tell when you have heard all the 

 sounds he is capable of producing, for every 

 now and then he ^\ ill surprise you with a new 

 combination. Recently, long as I have been 

 on familiar terms with him, he has made me 

 look several times in the bushes for a cardinal 

 grossbeak, only to find his versatile self. I have 

 a faint suspicion that he sometimes slyly plagia- 

 rizes the notes of other birds. 



It would be impossible to represent all his 

 quaint songs with letters and syllables. One 

 of his favorite sentiments is ^' Che-wish-you ! 

 che-wish-you ! che-wish-you ! " usually repeat- 

 ed three times and then followed by a brief 

 interval of silence. Sometimes he pipes, " Bish- 

 yer ! bish-yer ! " which you have leave to trans- 

 late as you please. I fancy he occasionally says, 

 '' I-wish-you-^vell-sir," which is certainly quite 

 considerate, and displays an unselfish spirit ; 

 but when he exclaims '^ Chil-lil-le-lu ! " rolling 

 it quaintly from his garrulous tongue, one is at 

 a loss to know if the statement is true or not. 

 At rare intervals he falls into an ecstasy and 

 chatters a continuous lay which is just as won- 

 derful as it is devoid of musical quality. 



No less quaint are the sites he chooses for 



