312 NATURE STUDY REVIEW 



The park seemed literally full of thrushes. Always between the 

 rarer birds, we saw Mr. Thrush, usually olive-backed, though 

 once we saw the willow thrush, the wedge-shaped spots on his 

 breast less distinct and of softer fawn-color on the pale, buffy 

 chest. 



Now comes a fly-catcher, the real crested one, with olive back, 

 grey breast shading to olive yellow, below. Over all, in the 

 sunlight and the blue, soared the swallows in graceful curves, 

 swinging and circling almost wherever one looked, if the look 

 went high enough. 



But there is more to see — yet stay, what was that softly-moving 

 bit of brown, among those low shrubs, by that rustic bridge? 

 We draw very near, without giving alarm, and have a fine view 

 of the exquisitely speckled, dainty wren. 



Soon a flutter led us to another low bush where we had an 

 excellent view of a m,odest, graceful bird, all in soft brownish- 

 gray, with a wee, triangular spot upon his wing and a delicately 

 penciled curve of white above and below his bright, dark eye. 

 A little early for vireos, yet this fellow looked very like Hutton's. 



A little farther, and we come to a gay fellow in black-and-white, 

 more raggedly streaked than the black-throated gray warbler, 

 his wings decidedly striped, a patch on the side of his head, belly 

 gray, a black patch for a cap, and every other distinguishing 

 feature a black-and-white warbler should have, for so he was. 



A festive bird about the size of a warbler, but with longer 

 tail, which seemed to form a peculiar little fan just at the end, 

 when he flew, still remains a mystery. Then came more thrushes 

 and then the royal scarlet tanagers — brilliant males in scarlet 

 and Madam Tanager, in her harmonious olive robe. 



Noted in passing was a fox sparrow, scratching for his dinner 

 after the style of the barn-yard hen; and we also said good-morning 

 to a phoebe-bird, eying the under side of a bridge for a good 

 nesting comer. Near black-bird island, too, we lingered to 

 watch the antics of the grackles. 



Enough for one day.? Never enough, but we were obliged to 

 turn south again, to be in time for dinner, having been in the park 

 just an hour-and-a-half, when we spied the "dearestest" of all. 

 Draw near to this little pine tree and look well at these clearly 

 "penciled," strong, curving lines of black, symmetrically drawn 



