THE INVITATION. 215 



There are found in the United States nineteen spe- 

 cies. In the Middle and Eastern districts, one may 

 observe in summer, without any special search, about 

 five of them, namely, the king-bird, the phcebe-bird, the 

 wood-pewee, the great-crested fly-catcher (distinguished 

 from all others by the bright ferruginous color of its 

 tail), and the small green-crested fly-catcher. 



The thrushes are the birds of real melody, and will 

 afford one more delight perhaps than any other class. 

 The robin is the most familiar example. Their man- 

 ners, flight, and form are the same in each species. 

 See the robin hop along upon the ground, strike an 

 attitude, scratch for a worm, fix his eye upon some- 

 thing before him or upon the beholder, flip his wings 

 suspiciously, fly straight to his perch, or sit at sundown 

 on some high branch caroling his sweet and honest 

 strain, and you have seen what is characteristic of all 

 the thrushes. Their carriage is preeminently marked 

 by grace, and their songs by melody. 



Beside the robin, which is in no sense a wood-bird, 

 we have, in New York, the wood-thrush, the hermit- 

 thrush, the veery, or Wilson's thrush, the olive-backed 

 thrush, and, transiently, one or two other species not so 

 clearly defined. 



The wood-thrush and the hermit stand at the head 

 as songsters, no two persons, perhaps, agreeing as to 

 which is the superior. 



Under the general head of finches, Audubon describes 

 over sixty different birds, ranging from the sparrows to 



