JULY. 



341 



fluence of certain sounds in nature in hallowing the period of 

 manhood with a recollection of early pleasures and a renewal 

 of those feelings, that come upon the soul like a fresh breeze 

 and the sound of gurgling waters to the weary and thirsty 

 traveller. 



There is a little brown sparrow, resembling the hair-bird, 

 save that his plumage has a general tint of russet, that may 

 be heard distinctly among the warbling host. He is never 

 found in cultivated grounds, but frequents the wild pastures, 

 and is the bird that warbles so sweetly at midsummer, when 

 the whortleberries are ripe and the fields are beautifully span- 

 gled with red lilies. There is no confusion in the notes of 

 his song, which consists of one syllable rapidly repeated, but 

 increasing in rapidity, and rising to a higher key towards the 

 conclusion. He sometimes prolongs his strain, when his 

 notes are observed to rise and fall in succession. These 

 plaintive and expressive notes are very loud and constantly 

 repeated during the whole hour that precedes the rising of 

 the sun. A dozen warblers of this species, singing in con- 

 cert, and distributed in different parts of the field, form per- 

 haps the most delightful part of the woodland oratorio to 

 which we have yet listened. 



As the woods are the residence of a tribe of musicians that 

 differ from those we hear in the open fields and orchards, one 

 must spend a morning in each of these situations, to obtain 

 a hearing of all the songsters of day-break. For this reason 

 I have said nothing of the thrushes, that sing chiefly in the 

 woods and solitary pastures, and are commonly more musical 

 in the early evening than in the morning. I have confined 

 my remarks chiefly to those birds that frequent the orchards 

 and gardens, and dwell familiarly near the habitations of men. 



At sunrise, hardly a robin is to be heard in the whole 

 neighborhood, and the character of the performance has com- 

 pletely changed during the last half hour. The first part 

 was more melodious and tranquilizing, the last more brilliant 

 and animating. The grassfinches, the vireos, the wrens and 

 the linnets have joined their voices to the chorus, and the 

 bobolinks are loudest in their song. But the notes of birds 



