NATURE'S CALENDAR 



rarely, a cousin, the white-crowned, whose 

 cheery cry is praiWz'e, re-re-ree. 



But the prize of this group is the large 

 and uncommon fox sparrow, whose song 

 is a rich, modulated whistle, finer, more 

 cultivated than that of any other spar- 

 row, and a treat to the ear among the 

 cheery but less musical jingles of the 

 other finches. Another very beautiful 

 song, sometimes begun amid the uncer- 

 tainties of March, is that of the purple 

 finch, but none equals that of the fox 

 sparrow— not even the wonderfully loud 

 yet musical fluting of the winter wren. 



Very characteristic of these early days 

 of reviving nature, also, is the sonorous 

 drumming of the small woodpeckers on 

 some dry and resonant limb — a distinctly 

 musical performance. It is usually the 

 downy, but, as Mr. Burroughs says, "he 

 is not rapping at the door of a grub ; he 

 is rapping at the door of spring." It is 

 a method of amusement and expression 

 and of advertisement for a mate. 



Formerly in the East, and still to some 

 extent in the middle West, long sinuous 

 lines of wild pigeons were wont to sweep 

 across the gray March skies — an inspiring 

 sight. This bird, once so characteristic 

 of the month, is almost extinct; but 

 there arrives in our latitude about the 

 middle of the month its cousin, the Caro- 

 lina or mourning dove, a bird so gentle 

 and apparently delicate that it is a sur- 

 prise to see it in this bleak weather, and 



