84 LYRISTS OF A SUBURB. 



formerly lived, but liad never before heard its song. 

 The notes are very sweet, and have been translated 

 by some one into the old song," dea?^ dear ^iv hat 

 call the matter he f " 



My bird warbled awhile in the tree, and then 

 fluttered down upon the grass in front of me, so 

 that I could distinctly note his snow-white crown, 

 banded with black on the forehead and sides of the 

 head. The arrangement on the nape is very 

 beautiful ; for there the white stripes of the crown 

 and those on the sides of the head run together, 

 and the back bands curve around and almost meet 

 each other. The general color of the bird, aside 

 from the parts described, is a fine dark ash, relieved 

 by two white bars on the wings, and some other 

 markings on the back and tail. 



Although this was the first time I had heard the 

 minstrelsy of this bird, it was not the last. Experi- 

 ences in bird study are very apt to be duplicated. 

 If you see or hear a bird once, you are sure to 

 see or hear him again in course of time ; and not 

 unfrequently does it occur that birds which are 

 very rare before you make their acquaintance, 

 apparently become quite abundant after that event. 

 However, I do not think that the difference lies in 

 the birds, but in the observer, whose interest has 



