WONDER-SONG OF THE WEST. 33 



in the least like the charming minor chant of 

 our Eastern lark. So powerful that it is heard 

 at great distances in the clear air, it is still not 

 in the slightest degree strained or harsh, but is 

 sweet and rich, whether it be close at one 's side 

 in the silence, or shouted from the housetop in 

 the tumult of a busy street. It has, moreover, 

 the same tender winsomeness that charms us in 

 our own lark song; something that fills the 

 sympathetic listener with delight, that satisfies 

 his whole being ; a siren strain that he longs to 

 listen to forever. The whole breadth and gran- 

 deur of the great West is in this song, its 

 freedom, its wildness, the height of its moun- 

 tains, the sweep of its rivers, the beauty of its 

 flowers, all in the wonderful performance. 

 Even after months of absence, the bare mem- 

 ory of the song of the mesa will move its lover 

 to an almost painful yearning. Of him, indeed, 

 Shelley might truthfully say, 



" Better than all measures 



Of delightful sound, 

 Better than all treasures 



That in books are found, 

 Thy skill to poet were, 



Thou scorner of the ground." 



Nor is the variety of the lark song less note- 

 worthy than its quality. That each bird has a 

 large repertoire I cannot assert, for my oppor- 

 tunities for study have been too limited ; but it 



