Berkeley in May. 



the well-traveled roads in the country 

 are growing dusty. 



From a bush by the road a vivacious, 

 high-pitched song issues. It is intricate, 

 rapid and varied. At times we catch 

 such hastily uttered phrases as the fol- 

 lowing: " Tit-a-trea-trea-trea; tree^ 

 tree^ trea, tree^ tree; trit-a-tree^ tree, 

 tree;" but the ending of the song is 

 frequently lost in a confused jumble of 

 sweet tones. If we are patient we may 

 detect a small, blue bird, considerably less 

 than a sparrow in size, with restless, 

 animated movements to correspond 

 with his song. It is the lazuli-bunting, 

 one of the commonest of the minor 

 songsters of summer. The plumage 

 of the male is very gay, with the back 

 of azure and the breast of reddish 

 brown ; but the female, like so many of 

 her sisters, is rather obscurely robed in 

 brown, with but a trace of the bright 

 colors of her mate. Their nest is a 

 cup-shaped structure of grasses, in which 

 are deposited four or five pale blue eggs, 

 176 



