WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



They move as if animated by a common and in- 

 stantaneous impulse, in which no single one takes 

 the lead or makes any suggestion, but all act in- 

 dependently yet absolutely simultaneously.'"' 



The redwings are among the earliest of our 

 vernal visitors, and south of the Ohio River and 

 Washington may be found all through the winter. 

 Their loud and rollicking spring note is one of 

 the most invigorating sounds in nature, and most 

 typical of the reviving year. Conk-quiree I conk- 

 quiree I sings out the male, as though he knew 

 a good story if only he had a mind to tell it; and 

 then adds chuck! quite as if he thought it of no 

 use to try to interest you in it, and that he had 

 been indiscreet in betraying an enthusiasm be- 

 neath his dignity over a matter beyond your ap- 

 preciation. His plain brown mate immediately 

 says chuck! too, quite agreeing with her lord and 

 master that it is not best to waste their confidence 

 upon you. 



* This idea of a " common mind " in the flock has been 

 present with me ever since, as a boy, I watched tliese black- 

 birds and other flocks, and speculated upon their movements ; 

 but it has always seemed too fanciful for serious considera- 

 tion. Yet in a late book, Bird Watching, by Edmund Selous 

 (London, 1901), it is propounded and discussed at length in 

 reference to English birds. 



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