THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS. 17 



not seem to imply an answer, but rather to 

 subserve some purpose of love or music. It 

 is " Yarup's " proclamation of peace and 

 good-will to all. On looking at the matter 

 closely, I perceive that most birds, not de- 

 nominated songsters, have, in the spring, 

 some note or sound or call that hints of a 

 song, and answers imperfectly the end of 

 beauty and art. As a " livelier iris changes 

 on the burnished dove," and the fancy of 

 the young man turns lightly to thoughts of 

 his pretty cousin, so the same renewing spirit 

 touches the " silent singers," and they are no 

 longer dumb ; faintly they lisp the first syl- 

 lables of the marvellous tale. Witness the 

 clear, sweet whistle of the gray-crested tit- 

 mouse, the soft, nasal piping of the nuthatch, 

 the amorous, vivacious warble of the blue- 

 bird, the long, rich note of the meadow-lark, 

 the whistle of the quail, the drumming of 

 the partridge, the animation and loquacity 

 of the swallows, and the like. Even the hen 

 has a homely, contented carol ; and I credit 

 the owls with a desire to fill the night with 

 music. All birds are incipient or would-be 

 songsters in the spring. I find corroborative 

 evidence of this even in the crowing of the 

 cock. The flowering of the maple is not so 



