216 TWO FRAGMENTS. 



a number of loud, clear notes, emitted in a kind of 

 recitative, with a deliciousl}" human intonation ; if 

 you get close to the songster you will find that the 

 pauses between the higher notes are filled up by a 

 low ecstatic twitter, the production of which causes 

 the bird to quiver from head to tail. On the fifth 

 of April one of these birds surprised me by his 

 loud, vigorous, theme-like carol, which I almost 

 mistook at first for the song of the brown thrasher. 

 No careful bird student need be reminded that 

 it is never safe to assert ex cathedra that he has 

 heard every note in a bird's musical repertory ; he 

 finds himself constantly surprised by new displays 

 of vocal talent. One day, while sauntering through 

 the woods, I heard a melodious twittering in the 

 bushes near me. The roundel, or whatever it may 

 have been called, opened with a lisping tsip, much 

 like that of the snowbird. Could it be that junco 

 had at last broken into song? I must investigate. 

 Peering about in the tangle of bushes, I soon de- 

 scried the mysterious musician ; it was our old 

 friend, the fox sparrow, rehearsing a new song. 

 He was industriously })icking and scratching among 

 the dr}^ leaves, bobbing up and down in a ludicrous 

 manner — as if he were dancing a jig — in quest 

 of dainties, and all tlie while running over his 



