26 THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS. 



for him. His song is most noticeable after 

 sundown, when other birds are silent ; for 

 which reason he has been aptly called the 

 vesper-sparrow. The farmer following his 

 team from the field at dusk catches his 

 sweetest strain. His song is not so brisk 

 and varied as that of the song-sparrow, 

 being softer and wilder, sweeter and more 

 plaintive. Add the best parts of the lay of 

 the latter to the sweet vibrating chant of 

 the wood-sparrow, and you have the evening 

 hymn of the vesper-bird, the poet of the 

 plain, unadorned pastures. Go to those 

 broad, smooth, uplying fields where the cat- 

 tle and sheep are grazing, and sit down in 

 the twilight on one of those warm, clean 

 stones, and listen to this song. On every 

 side, near and remote, from out the short 

 grass which the herds are cropping, the 

 strain rises. Two or three long, silver notes 

 of peace and rest, ending in some subdued 

 trills and quavers, constitute each separate 

 song. Often you will catch only one or two 

 of the bars, the breeze having blown the 

 minor part away. Such unambitious, quiet, 

 unconscious melody ! It is one of the most 

 characteristic sounds in Nature. The grass, 

 the stones, the stubble, the furrow, the quiet 



