his praise anthem. It is far reaching and sweet 
—one of the most attractive bird voices of early 
spring. They whistle in minor key their “ re- 
da-chee-a,” ‘“‘ re-da-chee-a,” with a finer musical 
modulation “to the nice ear of nature” than a 
prima donna. There is great variation in the 
alternate succession of similar chords, but all 
are clear and ringing, and would have a decided 
tinge of sadness were they not so sweet. 
Not in many years have we had so few birds 
about us as during the past year. In the opens 
there were not many, and in the woodlands 
“Where, oh, where, are the tribes 
That made merry the summer day! ~ 
And now to the interest of all who are anxious 
for signs of a coming spring, I will copy from 
a note book of 1899 two entries: “ March 25th. 
And now the songsparrow and robin have come! 
Against the warm south window drones an early 
awakened fly. To the west in the distance the 
snow-capped Helderbergs glisten blue and white 
in the sun, but spring is here.” “ April 3, 1899. 
To-day six inches of snow covers the ground, 
and a high north wind is blowing. Our robins 
have gone to the Pine Grove swamp for shelter 
and berries, the bluebirds and songsparrows to 
upper woodlands where seeds are found, to 
await the return of milder days.” 
March 24, 1914. 
78 
