A SPARROW QUARTETTE. 77 



catch the rhythmic notes of a half-dozen of these 

 minstrels coming up from the marsh below, no two 

 of them singing the same tune ; and I realize that 

 I have been entangled in the filigree of rich melody, 

 a delighted captive. There ! I have just caught a 

 new variation, one that I have never heard before, 

 though I have listened to these birds by the hour 

 and through many seasons. 



To show you how rich and varied the trills of 

 the song-sparrow are, I should like to conduct you 

 to a certain haunt I know in Northern Indiana on 

 the banks of a clear and beautiful river. It is a 

 spot where I have tried to untangle more than one 

 mesh of song from a dozen musical throats when 

 the sparrow orchestra was in full blast. Listen ! 

 do you hear those soft, subdued notes coming up 

 from the willows? The opening syllables might 

 be represented in this wise : C~o-o-y, c-o-y, coy ! fol- 

 lowed by a rapid run in nearly, if not quite, the 

 same key, the entire song having a slightly gur- 

 gling intonation, like music filtered through a net- 

 work of spray. It is very mournful, and makes 

 one think of the strains of Orpheus playing on his 

 lyre to his lost love, Eurydice. What bird can it 

 be ? On a nearer approach we espy a song-sparrow 

 in the bushes, and if we remain quiet, we may hear 



