20 THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS. 



courting ainid its decayed branches. Sometimes you 

 would hear only a gentle, persuasive cooing, or a 

 quiet confidential chattering, then that long, loud 

 call, taken up by first one, then another, as they sat 

 about upon the naked limbs, anon, a sort of wild, 

 rollicking laughter, intermingled with various cries, 

 yelps, and squeals, as if some incident had excited 

 their mirth and ridicule. Whether this social hilarity 

 and boisterousness is in celebration of the pairing or 

 mating ceremony, or whether it is only a sort of an- 

 nual " house-warming " common among high-holes 

 on resuming their summer quarters, is a question 

 upon which I reserve my judgment. 



Unlike most of his kinsmen, the golden-wing pre- 

 fers the fields and the borders of the forest to the 

 deeper seclusion of the woods, and hence, contrary to 

 the habit of his tribe, obtains most of his subsistence 

 from the ground, probing it for ants and crickets. 

 He is not quite satisfied with being a woodpecker. 

 He courts the society of the robin and the finches, 



melons the trees for the meadow, and feeds eagerly 

 ((berries and grain. What may be the final up- 

 shot of this course of living is a question worthy the 

 attention of Darwin. Will his taking to the ground 

 and his pedestrian feats result in lengthening his legs, 

 his feeding upon berries and grains subdue his tints 

 and soften his voice, and his associating with Robin 

 out a song into his heart ? 



hdeed, what would be more interesting than the 

 nistory of our birds for the last two or three centuries' 



