HE SHOUTS THE NEWS. 133 



the cat-bird, in the center of a thick shrub, 

 noiseless as a shadow, flutters across the path 

 and is gone ; others do the same. The orchard 

 oriole alone shouts the news to all whom it may 

 concern in his loudest " chack ! chack ! " put- 

 ting every one on his guard at once, and mak- 

 ing the copse in a moment as empty as though 

 no wing ever stirred its leaves. 



On first noticing the ways of the birds about 

 me on the occasion mentioned, I saw that there 

 was some sort of a disturbance among them ; 

 scarcely ten minutes passed without a commo- 

 tion, followed by a chase through the branches 

 of a tree, one bird pursuing another so hotly 

 that twigs bent and leaves parted as they passed, 

 the one in advance often uttering a complaining 

 cry, and the pursuer, a loud, harsh scold. Some- 

 thing exciting was evidently going on; some 

 tragedy or possibly comedy, in this extremely 

 sensational family. I was at once interested to 

 see what it might be and how it would end ; 

 and in fact, before I knew it, I was as much 

 absorbed in oriole matters as though no other 

 feathered life was to be seen. 



There were in the party two males, one in 

 his second year, and therefore immature in col- 

 oring, being olive-yellow on the breast, brown 

 on wings and tail, with a black mask over eyes 

 and chin ; the other was older, and a model 



