36 BIRD-SONGS. 



them models of conjugal and parental faithful- 

 ness. With a few exceptions (and these, it is a 

 pleasure to add, not singers), the very least of 

 them is literally faithful unto death. Here and 

 there, in the notes of some collector, we are told 

 of a difficulty he has had in securing a coveted 

 specimen : the tiny creature, whose mate had 

 been already "collected," would persist in hov- 

 ering so closely about the invader's head that it 

 was impossible to shoot him without spoiling 

 him for the cabinet by blowing him to pieces ! 



Need there be any mystery about the singing 

 of such a lover? Is it surprising if at times 

 he is so enraptured that he can no longer sit 

 tamely on the branch, but must dart into the 

 air, and go circling round and round, caroling 

 as he flies ? 



So far as song is the voice of emotion, it will 

 of necessity vary with the emotion ; and every 

 one who has ears must have heard once in a 

 while bird music of quite unusual fervor. For 

 example, I have often seen the least flycatcher 

 (a very unromantic-looking body, surely) when 

 he was almost beside himself ; flying in a circle, 

 and repeating breathlessly his emphatic chebec. 

 And once I found a wood pewee in a somewhat 

 similar mood. He was more quiet than the 

 least flycatcher ; but he too sang on the wing, 

 and I have never heard notes which seemed 



