PICTURE AND SONG 155 



is devising means to kill it. I hope he will not 

 succeed, although if the bird is close to his open 

 window and begins to unburden himself at half- 

 past two, as one does within hearing from my 

 bed, I cannot very seriously blame him for the 

 attempt. He goes out in his night-clothes, I am 

 told, and tries to " shoo " it away ; but the bird 

 has a message, as truly as Poe's raven, and is 

 bound to deliver it, whether men will hear or 

 forbear. 



On the morning of March 26, in an ante- 

 breakfast stroll, I found among the pines imme- 

 diately in the rear of the hotel the first summer 

 tanager of the season. The splendid creature, 

 bright red throughout, was flitting from tree to 

 tree, singing a measure or two from each. He 

 acted as if he were happy to be back in Ormond, 

 and I did not wonder. A red-eyed vireo was 

 singing on the 15th, and since then birds of the 

 same kind have become moderately common. 

 Considering that the red-eye is not supposed to 

 winter anywhere in the United States (I saw 

 nothing of it at Miami), and arrives so late in 

 New England, it seems to have reached Ormond 

 surprisingly early. 



For some time the woods have been alive in 

 spots with busy crowds of warblers. Parulas es- 

 pecially have been present in enormous force, 



