BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 



monstrated in the next song, which I heard early one 

 morning before rising, in Springfield, Mass. 



^3?120 



This part showed doubt of the theme; but finally it came cts above,. 



It sounded at first like a boy whistling, who was not 

 quite sure of his theme. But at last I recognized the un- 

 mistakable staccato style of the singer it was the Oriole, 

 and he was practising a bit of that familiar song in the 

 opera of Martha ! 



" I can wash, sir, I can spin, sir, 



I can sew, and mend, and babies tend." 

 Oriole has a certain vehement if not excited way of 

 singing which is all his own. No other bird can give 

 a staccato note so well, none other, except the Thrush, 

 can approach him in clearness of style; he never mixes 

 things up, his A is A, sharp or flat, it never gets too near 

 B. His song may be doubtful in pitch, he may even be 

 quite out of tune, but he never slurs over a passage, or 

 slides down the scale like the Wood Pewee ; on the con- 

 trary, he hits his notes with hammerlike taps directly on 

 the headl He is a sharp-billed, sharp-witted character, 

 and his remarks are as incisive and crisp as the toots of 

 a steam whistle; the following record, which I got in 

 Campton, N. H., will show that plainly: 





Mer the above introduction, these notes were given with the 

 sir p precision of dd&m whistle. 



i 



69 



