A TASTE OF KENTUCKY BLUE-GRASS 237 



not till I reached Adams County, Illinois, that 

 I saw another one and heard the song. Dn/ing 

 about the country here — which, by the way, 

 reminded me more of the blue-grass region than 

 anything I saw outside of Kentucky — with a 

 friend, I was again on the lookout for the new 

 bird, but had begun to think it was not a resi- 

 dent, when I espied one on the fence by the 

 roadside. It failed to sing, but farther on we 

 saw another one which alighted upon a fruit 

 tree near us. We paused to look and to listen, 

 when instantly it struck up and gave us a good 

 sample of its musical ability. It was both a 

 lark and a sparrow song; or, rather, the notes 

 of a sparrow uttered in the continuous and rapid 

 manner of the skylark — a pleasing perform- 

 ance, but not meriting the praise I had heard 

 bestowed upon it. 



In Kentucky and Illinois, and probably 

 throughout the West and Southwest, certain 

 birds come to the front and are conspicuous 

 which we see much less of in the East. The 

 blue jay seems to be a garden and orchard bird, . 

 and to build about dwellings as familiarly as 

 the robin does with us. There must be dozens 

 of these birds in this part of the country where 

 there is but one in New England. And the 

 brown thrashers — in Illinois they were as com- 

 mon along the highways as song sparrows or 

 chippies are with us, and nearly as familiar. 

 So also were the turtle-doves and meadow-larks. 

 That the Western birds should be more tame 

 and familiar than the same species in the East 



