Song Birds and Water Fowl 
ling vireo. This bird, by his manner, re- 
minds one of a bottle of some effervescent 
liquid that has been uncorked so long that all 
its native sparkle has escaped. He is too ex- 
alted to be annoyed by the remark that his 
listless air takes even the splendor out of his 
gorgeous robes ; and, as for other fascinations, 
almost any of the homelier birds are more con- 
genial to my taste. A silent blue jay posed so 
effectively in the clear sunlight that the lustre — 
of his costume would make one almost forget 
his villainy, and, fortunately, he did not spoil 
the charm by uttering a single sound. It isa . 
just retribution on this corrupt fowl that we 
commonly associate with him only that horrible 
scream that is so consonant with his nature. 
Yet, like the catbird, he is a conspicuous in- 
stance of wasted talents, of which he often gives 
proof in a wide variety of clear and beautiful 
whistles. Potentially he is a rich contralto, 
his ‘‘organ’’ is not surpassed by that of many 
of our noted vocalists, and he only. lacks that 
without which the rarest voice is essentially a 
failure, namely, musical temperament. The 
busy and vigorous downy woodpecker was 
loudly knocking for admittance into many a 
tree, and the endless polyphony showed the 
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