166 IN THE MIDDLE COUNTRY. 



with mine, for when he succeeded in evolving a 

 particularly charming one, he did not easily 

 change it. One that specially pleased me I put 

 down as " Shame-ber-ee ! " and this was his 

 favorite, too, for after the day he began it, he 

 sang it oftener than any other. It had a pecu- 

 liarly joyous ring, the second note being a third 

 below the first, and the third fully an octave 

 higher than the second. I believe he had just 

 then struck upon it, his enjoyment of it was so 

 plain to see. 



The Wren's Court was a distracting spot to 

 study one pair of small birds. So many others 

 came about, and always, it seemed, in some 

 crisis in wren affairs, when I dared not take my 

 eyes from my glass, lest I lose the sequence of 

 events. There appeared sometimes to be a 

 thousand whispering, squealing, and smacking 

 titmice in the trees over my head, and a whole 

 regiment of great-crested flycatchers and others 

 on one side. I was glad I was familiar with all 

 the flicker noises, or I should have been driven 

 wild at these moments, so many, so various, and 

 so peculiar were their utterances ; likewise 

 thankful that I knew the row made by the jay 

 on the bank above was not a sign of dire dis- 

 tress, but simply the tragic manner of the 

 family. 



Again, when the wind blew, it was impossible 



