^ DIFFICULTIES OF BIRD STUDY. 39 



arts of persuasion ; the bird is incorrigible ; he is 

 too much for you. 



As I was taking an autumn tramp along the 

 Mad River, in Ohio, I heard a remarkable chatter- 

 ing and scolding in a thick tangle of weeds and 

 vines at the foot of the cliffs. I was sure of a 

 " find " ; but in spite of all my beating about, 

 stealthy approaches, coaxing and hoaxing, I could 

 not get my eye on that bird ; for no sooner had I 

 struggled to the place where I last heard him, than 

 his petulant chatter came up from another hiding- 

 place. Patience became exhausted at last, and I 

 went home in a dejected frame of mind. What 

 could the feathered tan talizer have been? I have 

 read many descriptions of that tricksy spirit, the 

 yellow-breasted chat, and have been looking for 

 him ever since I began my out-door studies ; but 

 he still remains a stranger to me. What would I 

 not have given to know that the bird I had been 

 pursuing was the far-famed chat I * 



Some writers advise shooting the birds for pur- 

 poses of identification ; but suppose all of us who 

 love them — and I hope the number of their ad- 



* Subsequent investigations force me to make the humiliating confession 

 that the bird of which 1 here speak was a familiar species and not the chat. 

 I am glad to say that, since the foregoing w.i,s written, I have not only found 

 the chat, but have also had the pleasure of studynig his habits in a favorite 

 marsh not far from vny present l]ome. 



