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 of 

 my house. The past spring a belated male made 



