138 PEPACTON 



ner, while the female that was the bone of conten- 

 tion between them regarded them unconcernedly 

 from the near bushes. 



The bobolink is also a precipitate and impetuous 

 wooer. It is a trial of speed, as if the female were 

 to say, "Catch me and I am yours,'' and she scur- 

 ries away with all her might and main, often with 

 three or four dusky knights in hot pursuit. When 

 she takes to cover in the grass, there is generally 

 a squabble "down among the tickle-tops," or under 

 the buttercups, and " Winterseeble " or "Conque- 

 dle " is the winner. 



In marked contrast to this violent love-making 

 are the social and festive reunions of the goldfinches 

 about mating time. All the birds of a neighborhood 

 gather in a treetop, and the trial apparently becomes 

 one of voice and song. The contest is a most 

 friendly and happy one; all is harmony and gayety. 

 The females chirrup and twitter, and utter their 

 confiding " paisley ^^^ ^^ paisley ^^^ while the more 

 gayly dressed males squeak and warble in the most 

 delightful strain. The matches are apparently all 

 made and published during these gatherings; every- 

 body is in a happy frame of mind; there is no jeal- 

 ousy, and no rivalry but to see who shall be gayest. 



It often happens among the birds that the male 

 has a rival after the nuptials have been celebrated 

 and the work of housekeeping fairly begun. Every 

 season a pair of phoebe-birds have built their nest 

 on an elbow in the spouting beneath the eaves ol 

 my house. The past spring a belated male made 



