8 735KB RETURN OF THE BIRDS. 



whose memory I fondly cherish, is the Phcebe-bird 

 (Muscieapa nunciola), the pioneer of the fly-catchers. 

 In the inland farming districts, I used to notice her, 

 on some bright morning about Easter-day, proclaiming 

 her arrival with much variety of motion and attitude, 

 from the peak of the barn or hay-shed. As yet, you 

 may have heard only the plaintive, homesick note of the 

 bluebird, or the faint trill of the song-sparrow ; and 

 Phoebe's clear, vivacious assurance of her veritable 

 bodily presence among us again is welcomed by all 

 ears. At agreeable intervals in her lay she describes 

 a circle or an ellipse in the air, ostensibly prospecting 

 for insects, but really, I suspect, as an artistic flourish, 

 thrown in to make up in some way for the deficiency 

 of her musical performance. If plainness of dress in- 

 dicates powers of song, as it usually does, then Phoebe 

 ought to be unrivaled in musical ability, for surely 

 that ashen-gray suit is the superlative of plainness ; 

 and that form, likewise, would hardly pass for a " per- 

 fect figure " of a bird. The seasonableness of her com- 

 ing, however, and her civil, neighborly ways, shall 

 make up for all deficiencies in song and plumage. 

 After a few weeks Phoebe is seldom seen, except as she 

 darts from her moss-covered nest beneath some bridge 

 or shelving cliff. 



Another April comer, who arrives shortly after 

 Robin-redbreast, with whom he associates both at this 

 season and in the autumn, is the golden-winged 

 woodpecker, alias " high-hole," alias " flicker," alias 



