170 THE LOG OF THE SUN 



of course, imposes her eggs upon many of the 

 smaller species of birds, while our beautiful pur- 

 ple grackle, meadow lark, red-winged blackbird, 

 and the Baltimore and orchard orioles rear their 

 young in safety. The cardinal, scarlet tanager, 

 indigo bunting, and rose-breasted grosbeak form 

 a quartet of which even a tropical land might well 

 be proud, and the two latter species have, in addi- 

 tion to brilliant plumage, very pleasing songs. 

 Such wealth of aesthetic characteristics are un- 

 usual in any one species, the wide-spread law of 

 compensation decreeing otherwise. More sombre 

 hued seed-eaters which live their lives in the Park 

 are towhees, swamp, song, field, and chipping 

 sparrows. The bank and barn swallows skim over 

 field and pond all through the summer, gleaning 

 their insect harvest from the air, and building 

 their nests in the places from which they have 

 taken their names. The rare rough- winged swal- 

 low deigns to linger and nest in the Park as well 

 as do his more common brethren. 



The dainty pensile nests which become visible 

 when the leaves fall in the autumn are swung by 

 four species of vireos, the white-eyed, red-eyed, 

 warbling, and yellow-throated. Of the interesting 

 and typically North American family of wood 

 warblers I have numbered no fewer than eight 

 which nest in the Park; these are the redstart, 

 the yellow-breasted chat, northern yellow-throat, 

 oven-bird, the yellow warbler, blue-winged, black- 



