42 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 



when he says, in his Ode to the Skylark, " Thou 

 dost float and run" Flying seems hard work for 

 him, and he does as little of it as possible. When 

 he starts up from the meadow, he goes in a di- 

 rect line to the tree he wishes to reach. Like 

 the boboh'nk, he nests in fields and lays his eggs 

 in a coil of dried grass on the ground. 



In variety and execution the famous song of the 

 European lark may be superior to that of our own 

 Eastern lark, though Wilson holds that xmrs ex- 

 cels it in " sweetness of voice." The mournful 

 melody of the meadow-lark is full of poetic sugges- 

 tions ; he is the hermit thrush of the meadows, 

 and where the light-hearted bobolink's song jos- 

 tles the sunbeams, he is as solitary and pensive as 

 the lonely hermit when it thrills the hush of the 

 sunset after-glow with its fervid Te Deuni. 



XL 



BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE; TITMOUSE. 



READ Emerson's " Titmouse " and you will 

 recognize this charming little bird without the 

 aid of your glass. Not only in spring and fall, 

 but in the coldest winter days you will hear what 

 Thoreau calls the " silver tinkling " cMclc-a-dee- 

 dee-dee-dee, chick-a-dee-dee*dee-dee ringing through 

 the air. When you hear it, if you look carefully 

 over the trees you will see a fluffy little 



