WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



of the pasture. "Rather small sport, I thought, 

 for so large a bird. But that was a matter of opin- 

 ion, merely, and evidently the performer himself 

 had no such scruples." 



It looks to me as though this were done just for 

 the amusement of it. 



No bird is more exuberant when spring comes. 

 He mounts a dead tree-top or the summit of a tall 

 fence-rider and shouts and yells with glee. It is 

 a loud, whole-souled, hearty ''holler,'' which, as 

 Audubon expresses it, is merriment itself, and imi- 

 tates a prolonged, jovial laugh. Sometimes, never- 

 theless, the cry is nearer a scream, or the harsh 

 noise made by sharpening a knife. It is in the 

 joyous excitement of choosing a mate that this 

 keen and sonorous call rings loudest across the 

 blossoming fields, and then it is great sport to watch 

 the antics of a group of golden-winged beaux, each 

 striving to attract some coquettish maid who is 

 slow to single out one of the noisy and quarrel- 

 some crew. ^ 



It is during this time of courtship and domestic 

 duty and joy that one hears oftenest those softer 

 and sweeter notes of this bird, which sound Hke 

 wicka, ivicka, wicka, frequently repeated. It is a 

 gentle, melodious utterance, with a curious crackle 



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