104 TANGLES OF BIRD-SONG. 



and foliage, until I feared they would dash 

 themselves to pieces, and then, alighting on sepa- 

 rate perches not far apart, they hurled their de- 

 fiance at each other in loud and not unmusical 

 bursts of song; a red-start flashed his coat of black 

 and gold in the trees, breaking out at intervals in 

 a lively trill ; not far away a summer warbler 

 added his quota to the general chorus ; several 

 vireos performed in recitative among the branches 

 of a willow ; the sad minor of a black-capped 

 chickadee lent sweetness to the symphony ; the 

 fluting of a Baltimore oriole could be heard, im- 

 parting a cheeriness and a feeling of good-fellow- 

 ship ; a sandpiper " teetered " and complained ; a 

 killdeer plover flew across the river, uttering his 

 slirill cry ; while last, though not least, a robin, 

 from a tree-top on the high acclivity, rang out his 

 allegro^ " Cheeydly^ cheer up ! cheer up ! " until it 

 woke the sylvan echoes. 



It was a tumult (I had almost said a chaos) of 

 bird music, only it seemed to me that a law of har- 

 mou)^ ran through it all, which a musician might 

 have caught and represented by some system of 

 notation. Surel}^ so I thought, it was a fabric 

 woven according to some well-ordered plan. 



Another such morning comes back to my mind, 



