WAYS OF NATURE 



open, and pouring out its jubilant, ecstatic strain. I 

 think it indulges in this wing-song only in the early 

 season. After the mother bird has begun sitting, the 

 male circles about within earshot of her, in that 

 curious undulating flight, uttering his &quot;per-chic-o- 

 pee, per-chic-o-pee,&quot; while the female calls back to 

 him in the tenderest tones, &quot; Yes, lovie; I hear you.&quot; 

 The indigo-bird and the purple finch, when their 

 happiness becomes too full and buoyant for them 

 longer to control it, launch into the air, and sing 

 briefly, ecstatically, in a tremulous, hovering flight. 

 The air-song of these birds does not differ essentially 

 from the song delivered from the perch, except that 

 it betrays more excitement, and hence is a more 

 complete lyrical rapture. 



The purple finch is our finest songster among the 

 finches. Its strain is so soft and melodious, and 

 touched with such a childlike gayety and plaintive- 

 ness, that I think it might sound well even in a cage 

 inside a room, if the bird would only sing with 

 the same joyous abandonment, which, of course, it 

 would not do. 



It is not generally known that individual birds of 

 the same species show different degrees of musical 

 ability. This is often noticed in caged birds, among 

 which the principle of variation seems more active; 

 but an attentive observer notes the same fact in wild 

 birds. Occasionally he hears one that in powers of 

 song surpasses all its fellows. I have heard a sparrow, 

 44 



