SONGS OUT OF SEASON. 113 



The next autumn I heard one of these birds 

 deliver his recitative in a chestnut grove in North- 

 eastern Ohio. In the spring of 1890 the woods 

 were vocal with their songs, albeit a writer on the 

 birds of this State asserts that they do not sing on 

 their migratory tour to their Northern homes. In 

 another paper I have endeavored to characterize 

 their spring melod3^ 



A frequent and cheering sound in the woods 

 during January and February was the resonant 

 whistle of the cardinal grossbeak. This was all th^ 

 more remarkable when collated with the fact tha 

 his song was not heard once during the succeeding/ 

 winter. True, he and his mate were absent from 

 November to February, but even when they 

 returned, all their music seemed to be locked up in 

 their throats. 



The conduct of the meadow-larks was somewhat 

 quaint. Early in the spring, while the weather 

 was still chill and frosty, they gave free concerts 

 on the commons back of the house and in the 

 adjoining clover field, continuing them through 

 May and June and a part of July. Then they 

 were silent for a while, probably through the 

 moulting season ; but in September they resumed 

 their fluting with more vigor than before, keeping 



