4 EVERYDAY BIRDS 



but my own opinion. Let my readers hear the 

 bird, and judge for themselves. They will enjoy 

 him, whether or no. Every such new acquaint- 

 ance that a man makes is a new source of life- 

 long happiness. 



The enormous California vulture is said to be 

 almost dumb, having " no vocal apparatus " and 

 "emitting only a weak hissing sound." What 

 a contrast between him and the ruby-crown, a 

 mere speck of a bird, but with a musical nature 

 and the voice of an artist. Precious stuff, they 

 say, comes in small packages. Even the young- 

 est of us may have noticed that it is always the 

 smaller birds that sing. 



But if all the singers are small birds, it is not 

 true that all small birds are singers. The golden- 

 crowned kinglet, for example, is hardly to be 

 classed under that head. The gifts of Providence 

 are various, and are somewhat sparingly dealt 

 out. One creature receives one gift, another 

 creature another, just as is true of men, women, 

 and children. This boy " has an ear," as the 

 saying goes. He is naturally musical. Give him 

 a chance, and let him not be too much in love 

 with something else, and he will make a singer, 

 or a player on instruments, or possibly a com- 

 poser. His brother has no ear ; he can hardly 

 tell Old Hundred from Yankee Doodle. It is 



