Song Birds and Water Fowl 
more noisy, than in winter. He was evidently 
in a jocund mood that morning, for he some- 
times reiterated his note so lustily and so many 
times that it sounded exactly like a coarse but 
hearty laugh resounding through the woods. 
The azk of the nuthatch, as ordinarily uttered, 
is about the laziest and most nasal sound in 
Nature—a perfunctory, expressionless tone, as 
any parental heart will appreciate, on being 
told it is like the sound he has so often heard 
squeezed out of rubber dolls and kittens. 
I also noted a thin sprinkling of that less 
brilliant, but always looked -for warbler, the 
‘¢bay-breasted,’’ which is one of the most 
transient of our spring visitors. Outside the 
woods, another vireo, the yellow-throated, en- 
livened the still air with his loud and peculiar 
note. 
A very delicate, but rather characterless, 
creature, and quite abundant all about, is the 
blue - winged yellow warbler, finely, but not 
strongly, colored with rich yellow, olive-green, 
and slaty blue. Of all the times I have seen 
this tiny specimen I have never heard him 
utter a single sound, which is peculiar; for, 
since those having the least to say are usually 
most garrulous, the various warblers, having 
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