UNDER THE MAPLES 



humans. I know of nothing like it among other 

 birds. It is the manifestation of something dif- 

 ferent from the flocking instinct; it is the social and 

 holiday instinct, bringing the birds together for a 

 brief season, as if in celebration of some special 

 event or purpose. I have observed it in my vicinity 

 every spring for many years, usually in April or early 

 May, and it is the prettiest and most significant 

 bird episode, involving a whole species, known 

 to me. 



The goldfinch has many pretty ways. He is one 

 of our most amiable birds. So far as my knowledge 

 goes, he is not capable of one harsh note. His tones 

 are all either joyous or plaintive. In his spring 

 reunions they are joyous. In the peculiar flight- 

 song in which he indulges in the mating season, 

 beating the air vertically with his round, open 

 wings, his tones are fairly ecstatic. His call to 

 his mate when she is brooding, and when he circles 

 about her in that long, billowy flight, the crests of 

 his airy waves being thirty or forty feet apart, call- 

 ing, "Perchic-o-pee, perchic-o-pee," as if he were 

 saying, "For love of thee, for love of thee," and she 

 calling back, "Yes, dearie; yes, dearie" his tones 

 at such times express contentment and reassurance. 



When any of his natural enemies appear a 

 hawk, a cat, a jay his tones are plaintive and ap- 

 pealing. "Pit-y, pit-y!" he cries in sorrow and not 

 in anger. 



42 



