A DAINTY WOOING 173 



tactics of a crow nursery; the red-headed 

 woodpecker's family training ; odd ways of 

 the solemn phoebe ; and, best of all, some 

 of the personal idiosyncrasies of that coy fel- 

 low mortal, the veery. This bird, indeed, 

 with his quaint and interesting manners when 

 he supposes himself unobserved, I should 

 never have known but for the friendly screen 

 of the window-blinds. 



In the same place I saw a purple finch 

 wooing : the little sparrow-clad damsel sit- 

 ting demurely on a branch with a wooer on 

 each side about a foot from her. It was a 

 contest of song. With wings and tail ex- 

 panded to their fullest limit, and snowy 

 breast-feathers fluffed out, each one turned 

 toward her and poured out his choicest song, 

 swaying the head and body from side to side 

 with a tremulous, vibratory movement of 

 wings. 



The ideal window is, of course, in the 

 country, looking into an orchard, or a neg- 

 lected spot with a tree or two, where the 

 hand of man never meddles, and wildings of 

 all sorts have possession; a pasture well grown 

 up to bushes ; an unfrequented lane rich in 



