FINE FEATHERS AND FINE BIRDS 143 



That is to say, the bird was constant to the one 

 spot the Autumn and Winter through, but the find- 

 ing was a different matter. Creatures of unusually 

 curious impulses, the little grey ladies sometimes 

 remained quiet for hours at a time, and on other 

 occasions waxed melodious. Midway in the month 

 of April one of these birds emitted its rich, spas- 

 modic call "Whee, wee-wee!" and then came 

 down and "charr-charred" brazenly at me, so much 

 in the tone of a chiding Yellow Robin that one of 

 these birds excitedly flew up to investigate. After 

 that it became apparent to me that the grey-garbed 

 bird with the touch of red in the wings was an 

 autumnal melodist of no mean order. 



It is not straining at a fancy to say that the bar 

 most frequently used by the solitary female wan- 

 derer suggested the words "Be quick, quick, oh- 

 please-do-be-quick." Silence for a variable time, 

 and then the strain changed to: "Swee-ee-t, 

 swee-ee-t; oh it's pretty, it is pretty pretty." Al- 

 most every bar was preceded by the curious, "half- 

 indrawn" whistle characteristic of the genus a 

 note suggesting that the performer was gathering 

 breath for the effort. Then, more rarely, there was 

 a remarkably rich bar: "Bobby-link, bobby-link, 

 bobby-link, bobby-link." 



The bird heard to best advantage on this rollick- 

 ing note came down almost within arms' reach to 

 inspact me ; at other times it was impossible to per- 

 suade Miss Caprice from the tree-tops. She would 

 simply screw her head on one side in that quaint 

 fashion which is another trait of the Whistlers, and 



