A QUEER LITTLE SONG. 125 



his perch with wings held tightly against his 

 sides, " humped " up as though he were high- 

 shouldered. The plumage of his breast was 

 puffed out so broadly that it came over the 

 wings, and in a front view completely hid them, 

 while the feathers of his shoulders were erected 

 till he resembled a lady with a fur shoulder 

 cape. Withal, his head was drawn down to 

 his body, and his beak pointed upward at an 

 angle of forty-five degrees. In this peculiar 

 and absurd position he began a strange little 

 song, ludicrously weak and low for a bird of 

 his size. The tones were delivered in a sharp 

 staccato style, like " picking " the strings of a 

 violin very softly, several notes uttered with 

 queer sidewise jerks of the head, and eyes ap- 

 parently fixed on the gold-finch. After a 

 phrase or two he scraped his bill violently and 

 then began again. 



This performance he varied by bowing his 

 head many times, swaying his whole body from 

 side to side, flirting his tail and shaking his 

 wings. It was an extraordinary display, but 

 whether his manner of making himself agree- 

 able, or of expressing contempt, I could only 

 guess. The goldfinch looked on with interest, 

 though I think he understood it no better than 

 I did ; he seemed surprised, but rather pleased, 

 for he repeated his calls, and the Golden-wing 

 kept up the strange exhibition for some time. 



