A MONTH'S MUSIC. 297 
in tune, but the rest of the warblers were otherwise 
engaged. Finally, just as a distant whippoorwill be- 
gan to call, a towhee sang once from the woods; and 
a moment later the stillness was broken by the sudden 
outburst of a thrasher. ‘ Now then,’ he seemed to 
say, ‘if the rest of you are quite done, I will see what 
Ican do. He kept on for two or three minutes in 
his best manner, and at the same time a pair of cat- 
birds were whispering love together in the thicket. 
Then an ill-timed carriage came rattling along the 
road, and when it had passed, every bird’s voice was 
hushed. ‘The hyla’s tremulous cry was the only mu- 
sical sound to be heard. As I started away, one of 
these tree-frogs hopped out of my path, and I picked 
him up at the second or third attempt. What did he 
think, I wonder, when I turned him on his back to 
look at the disks at his finger-tips? Probably he 
supposed that his hour was come; but I had no evil 
designs upon him, — he was not to be drowned in alco- 
hol at present. Walking homeward I heard the rob- 
in’s scream now and again; but the thrasher’s was 
the last song, as it deserved to be.” 
Two days later I find the following : — 
‘Into the woods by the Old Road. As I approached 
them, a little after sundown, a chipper was trilling, 
and song sparrows and golden warblers were sing- 
ing, —as were the black-throated greens also, and 
the Maryland yellow-throats. A wood thrush called 
brusquely, but offered no further salute to the god of 
day at hisdeparture. Oven-birds were taking to wing 
