IN THE HEMLOCKS. 65 



branches with increased liveliness, and indulging in 

 fine sibilant chirps, too happy to keep silent. 



His manners are quite marked. He has a habit of 

 courtesying when he discovers you, which is very pretty. 

 In form he is an elegant bird, somewhat slender, his 

 back of a bluish lead-color becoming nearly black on 

 his crown : the under part of his body, from his throat 

 down, is of a light, delicate yellow, with a belt of black 

 dots across his breast. He has a fine eye, surrounded 

 by a light-yellow ring. 



The parent birds are much disturbed by my presence, 

 and keep up a loud emphatic chirping, which attracts 

 the attention of their sympathetic neighbors, and one 

 after another they come to see what has happened. 

 The chestnut-sided and the Blackburnian come in 

 company. The black-and-yellow warbler pauses a 

 moment and hastens away ; the Maryland yellow- 

 throat peeps shyly from the lower bushes and utters 

 his " Fip ! fip ! " in sympathy ; the wood-pewee comes 

 straight to the tree overhead, and the red-eyed vireo 

 lingers and lingers, eying me with a curious, innocent 

 look, evidently much puzzled. But all disappear again, 

 one by one, apparently without a word of condolence 

 or encouragement to the distressed pair. I have often 

 noticed .among birds this show of sympathy, — if in- 

 deed it be sympathy, and not merely curiosity, or desire 

 to be forewarned of the approach of a common danger. 



An hour afterward I approach the place, find all still, 

 and the mother bird upon the nest. As I draw near 

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