70 CHARACTER #4 FEATHERS. 
indescribable fashion, and chattering all the 
while. His “inner consciousness” at such a 
moment would be worth perusing. Possibly 
he has some feeling for the grotesque. But I 
suspect not ; probably what we laugh at as the 
antics of a clown is all sober earnest to him. 
At best, it is very little we can know about 
what is passing in a bird’s mind. We label 
him with two or three sesquipedalia verba, give 
his territorial range, describe his notes and his 
habits of nidification, and fancy we have ren- 
dered an account of the bird. But how should 
we like to be inventoried in such a style? 
‘¢ His name was John Smith; he lived in Bos- 
ton, in a three-story brick house ; he had a bar- 
itone voice, but was not a good singer.” All 
true enough; but do you call that a man’s bi- 
ography ? 
The four birds last spoken of are all wanting 
in refinement. The jay and the shrike are 
wild and rough, not to say barbarous, while the 
white-eyed vireo and the chat have the charac- 
ter which commonly goes by the name of od- 
dity. All four are interesting for their strong 
individuality and their picturesqueness, but it 
is a pleasure to turn from them to creatures 
like our four common New England Hylocich- 
le, or small thrushes. These are the real pa- 
tricians. With their modest but rich dress, 
