46 FIRST MEETINGS. 



bands. These birds were not wary and bent on 

 concealment, like so many other members of the 

 family. Indeed, I have reason to believe that they 

 were fully conscious of their attractions ; for they 

 let themselves drop to the lower branches, so that 

 I could inspect them closely as they disported their 

 plumes at such angles in the sunshine as to pro- 

 duce the most brilliant effect. Natty little dandies 

 that they were ! 



According to Mr. Ridgway, these tiny bird- 

 sprites are sometimes seen in Greenland during 

 the summer. I should like to see one perched 

 on an iceberg on a sunshiny day. 



Flitting before me in the tangle of vines, bram- 

 bles and bushes on the steep bank of the river be- 

 fore referred to, I saw, one day of early spring, a 

 bevy of little feathered strangers, whom (I use 

 wJiom because birds seem so much like people) I 

 quickly identified as the black and yellow, the 

 black-throat blue, and the black-throated green 

 warblers — making quite a brilliant galaxy. Since 

 that day I have often met these pleasant acquaint- 

 ances, but at every new meeting I still feel some- 

 thing of the thrill I felt at my first introduction to 

 them. They did not tarry long in that latitude, 

 but, cheerily bidding us good-by, winged their flight 



