MAY. 107 



because a dozen might be heard at once, that their efforts 

 proved so pleasing. One whole day was given to gazing 

 at and lingering about a madcap, crystal brook where the 

 redstarts seemed as numberless as the flies they snapped 

 at. The half-leaved twigs of birches, ash, and sapling 

 oaks were threaded like glinting sunbeams by these merry 

 birds, and each one singing without a moment's rest. 

 These flashing, fire-fronted warblers can be likened, for 

 activity, only to the clouds of May-flies that dim the 

 evening air. I would like to give an estimate of their 

 numbers for the benefit of ornithologists, but forbear; 

 resting with the statement that I little thought so many 

 were to be found in all the State. 



To put it coldly, the one marked feature in the case of 

 every singing bird I heard, was purity of tone. And, if I 

 may judge by my own feelings, I would declare that the 

 influence was an atmospheric one. Can it be that the 

 birds of south Jersey suffer from a feeling of depression 

 suggestive of malaria? 



Before recurring to other features of this region, let me 

 add one word concerning the sprout-land areas through 

 which a stream may pass. Taken all in all, birds are there 

 to be found in greatest numbers. Nowhere else did we 

 find a tithe of the variety ; never elsewhere but a meager 

 fraction of their numbers. Impatient as I was to explore 

 the deep-bayed shores of the beautiful lake, I found a long 

 summer day all too short for one little stream that I have 

 recorded in my field-notes as " Kedstart Brook," adding 

 beneath the name : 



From the deep caverns of the distant hills, 

 Your growing strength, the flow of many rills, 

 In fitful haste adown the uplifted rocks, 

 Where dancing sunshine many a shadow mocks, 

 With ceaseless song your merry way you take, 

 To rest at last in fair Hopatcong's lake. 



