FINCHES, STARLINGS AND CROWS 71 



November gth, 1895 : "A small flight of 

 birds passed along the trees in front of the 

 window. Caught a momentary glance of one 

 as it rested on the tree, and noticed shades 

 of brown and pink and the peculiar bill. 

 Could they have been crossbills ? " 



Yellow-hammers, or " goldfinches " as 

 they are called here, are often to be seen in 

 the fields near, but in the garden we are more 

 familiar with the black-headed reed-bunting. 

 We generally have one or two about the old 

 bed of the river. I have watched the bird 

 through a telescope on a July day, as 

 he sat on an osier twig that was swaying in 

 the wind, preening his feathers and uttering 

 his short melody ( ?) betweenwhiles. He 

 would begin as though he had really some- 

 thing to sing, then would come two halting 

 notes, indicating doubt of his power to do 

 much after all, which would immediately 

 become a certainty, and his brief attempt 

 would end in a fizzle. He would, however, 

 be perfectly satisfied with the performance 

 himself, and would go through it again and 

 again almost as persistently as the yellow- 

 hammer repeats his wearisome monotonous 

 phrase. In the spring he has a still simpler 

 song, if it can be called a song, consisting of 

 two or three notes of one tone, something like 

 the cheep of a chicken, sometimes repeated 

 ad infinitum, sometimes followed by a short 

 run of three or four notes more. 



