FEBRUARY OUTINGS. 59 
had come, broke into a jingling chorus. Early in 
the season as it was, they seemed to be almost in 
perfect voice, only a little of the hesitancy and 
twitter of their fall songs being distinguishable ; 
nor did they seem to care for the raw evening 
wind blowing across the meadows, or the gray 
clouds scurrying athwart the sky, but kept up their 
canticles until the dusk fell. 
Two days later, while sauntering through a wood- 
land, I had the greatest surprise of the winter. For 
several years I had been studying the tree-sparrows, 
hoping to hear them sing, but only two or three 
times had my anxious quest been rewarded with 
even a wisp of melody from their lyrical throats. 
On this day, however, I came upon a whole colony 
of them in full tune, giving a concert that would 
have thrilled the most prosaic soul with poetry and 
romance. It was the first time I had ever really 
seen these birds while singing; but now, so kind 
was fortune, I could watch the movement of their 
mandibles, the swelling of their throats, and the 
heaving of their bosoms while they trilled their 
roundelays. My notes, taken on the spot, run as 
follows: ‘“‘The song is somewhat crude and labored 
in technique ; but the tones are very sweet indeed, 
not soft and low, as one author says, but quite loud 
and clear, so that they might be heard at some dis- 
tance. The minstrelsy is more like that of the fox- 
sparrow than of any other sparrow, though the tones 
are finer and not so full and resonant. Quite often 
the song opens with one or two long syllables, and 
