822 STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 



singing-book — he exchanges the maestoso and 

 adagio for the allegro and vigoroso. By the 

 time he gets half through his song, he sings 

 as fast as he can utter the notes. Oh, you 

 ought to hear the bobolink, my little friend — 

 you ought to hear him, by all means ; and you 

 ought to see him, too, while he is in the act 

 of singing, as if for his life. He makes such 

 odd gestures with his head, to give his music 

 peculiar effect ! When half a dozen of these 

 birds have a concert together, they have a great 

 time of it. Every one seems to be ambitious 

 to outsing all the rest. 



This bird is so cunning, and so quick on the 

 wing, that he can generally dodge the sports- 

 man, when he is so cruel as to attempt to shoot 

 him. I am told that it is sometimes provoking 

 to those who wish to capture the fellow, to 

 perceive how coolly he takes a shot. He sees 

 the flash of the priming in the gun, or hears 

 the lock snap, and as quick as a flash of light- 

 ning he is off. But he does not trouble himself 

 to fly away at any considerable distance. He 

 alights, perhaps, on a tree close by, and goes to 

 singing as merrily as if nothing had happened. 

 Yery likely he takes up his song, just where 

 he dropped it, when the gun was fired. He 

 nods and shakes his head, they say, at such 



