146 YOUNG AMERICA IN FEATHERS. 



up or holding it still according as he sang loud 

 or low. To all varieties of his pretty little 

 melody he treated me. Never once did he utter 

 the notes given in the books as the family song. 

 From his beak I never heard either " wichita," 

 " witches here," " o-wee-chee," or " I beseech 

 you," all of which, excepting the last, I have 

 heard at different times from other members of 

 the family ; which, by the way, confirms my oft- 

 repeated assertion that no two birds of a species 

 sing alike. His ordinary notes resembled "pe- 

 o-we," delivered in lively manner, with strong 

 accent on the first syllable. Sometimes he gave 

 them the regulation three times ; again, he added 

 a fourth repetition, and changed this by end- 

 ing on the first syllable of the fifth utterance. 

 On one occasion he surprised and delighted me 

 by turning from the third " pe-o-we " into a 

 continuous little carol, varied and bewitching. 

 Later in the season, after I had finished my 

 studies in the alder bushes, I heard several times 

 from a yellow-throat in the pasture a similar 

 continuous song, usually delivered on the wing. 

 After some days my little watcher became so 

 accustomed to my silent presence under the pine 

 that he did not mind me in the least, though he 

 never forgot me, and if I stirred he was on the 

 alert in an instant. So long as I was motion- 

 less he ignored me entirely, and conducted him- 



