A SPRING RELISH 167 



the wagtails. There are many hirds that do not 

 come here till May, be the season never so early. 

 The spring of 1878 was very forward, and on the 

 27th of April I made this entry in my note-book : 

 "In nature it is the middle of May, and, judging 

 from vegetation alone, one would expect to find 

 many of the later birds, as the oriole, the wood 

 thrush, the kingbird, the catbird, the tanager, the 

 indigo-bird, the vireos, and many of the warblers, 

 but they have not arrived. The May birds, it 

 seems, will not come in April, no matter how the 

 season favors." 



Some birds passing north in the spring are pro- 

 vokingly silent. Every April I see the hermit 

 thrush hopping about the woods, and in case of a 

 sudden snow-storm seeking shelter about the out- 

 buildings ; but I never hear even a fragment of his 

 wild, silvery strain. The white-crowned sparrow 

 also passes in silence. I see the bird for a few 

 days about the same date each year, but he will 

 not reveal to me his song. On the other hand, 

 his congener, the white-throated sparrow, is decid- 

 edly musical in passing, both spring and fall. His 

 sweet, wavering whistle is at times quite as full 

 and perfect as when heard in June or July in the 

 Canadian woods. The latter bird is much more 

 numerous than the white-crowred, and its stay 

 with us more protracted, which may in a measure 

 account for the greater frequency of its song. The 

 fox sparrow, who passes earlier (sometimes in 

 March), is also chary of the music with which he 



