A MIDSUMMER PRINCE. 



day, they fly continuously and in a straight line 

 high overhead. About sunset they halt, and 

 uttering low notes, dive into the thickets to 

 feed, and afterward to rest. They go singly, 

 or two or three together. The males 



223 



come in advance, and instant- 

 ly announce their presence by a 

 loud and joyous song, continual- 

 ly emulating one another dur- 

 ing the week or more that elapses 

 before the* arrival of the females. But this 

 emulation does not end with vying in song ; 

 they have many pitched battles, chasing each other 

 from tree to tree and through the branches with angry 

 notes. The coming of the females offers some diversion 

 to these pugnacious cavaliers, or at least furnishes a new 

 casus belli ; for, while they devote themselves with great 

 ardor to wooing and winning their coy mistresses, their 

 jealousy is easily aroused, and their fighting is often re- 



