May 



the earnest, voluble strain of the red-eye in 

 the tender secret that the warbling vireo con- 

 fides in whispers to the passing breeze he is 

 insensible who does not hear the echo of 

 thoughts he never clothes in words. ' ' 



The two that arrived at this time were the 

 red-eyed and the warbling vireos, the two most 

 abundant and most popular species. 



At this time I noted the arrival of one of the 

 more famous finch songsters. In one of my 

 walks I caught sight of a large bird (compara- 

 tively, for my eyes had been full of warblers 

 during the preceding days), characterized by 

 unusual black and white markings. With dif- 

 ficulty I followed it through the trees, and as it 

 perched and graciously turned toward me, I saw 

 a large crimson patch on the breast, beautiful of 

 itself, and doubly so to me as the mark of a bird 

 I had never been able to see before, but of great 

 reputation the rose - breasted grosbeak, one 

 of the handsomest and most musical of the fam- 

 ily. It was in its mature and richest plumage, 

 and as it hopped from branch to branch, feeding 

 upon the pendant catkins, it kept up a contin- 

 uous warble, which might be described as the 

 combination of the songs of a rich-voiced robin 

 and of the goldfinch. Some writer has said 



163 



