244 I n Touch with Nature. 



no one would fail to credit the jay with ability to 

 sing; yet neither bird is ever classed under the 

 heading of songsters. 



Whether logical or not, in studies of animal life 

 we must consider what we would do and have 

 done and are daily doing under like circumstances, 

 and from such data draw our conclusions. Now, 

 it is significant that no song-bird proper, be it 

 thrush, lark, or grosbeak, is limited in its utter- 

 ances to the characteristic song. This is but one 

 of a considerable series, and is heard only under 

 certain circumstances, and the other utterances, 

 each as well defined as the song, are, too, only 

 uttered when conditions arise that call for them. 

 In the same way, speaking of ourselves, we laugh 

 when amused, cry when in pain, and sing when 

 merry or contemplative. Who, with a jumping 

 toothache, could sing " Annie Laurie" ? 



Are these but catchy phrases to avoid straight- 

 forward consideration of the question ? Let us 

 take a walk across lots, into the woods, and look 

 about the swamps and river. Here in the angle 

 of an old worm-fence is a clump of blackberry 

 briers, and it is easy to watch the pair of cat-birds 



