BIRD TRAITS. 211 



coming after August sunshine, than these chil- 

 dren of the world start southward, not to return 

 until all traces of snow have vanished. Truly 

 the warblers must be counted the elite of bird 

 society ; but they are as surely the frequent vic- 

 tims of its knaves. 



The surest way to tell shoddy is to hold it 

 against the true fabric. The same is true of 

 shoddy people and shoddy birds. Mr. and Mrs. 

 Tanager, he in scarlet coat and she in yellow 

 satin, are best measured by contrast with the re- 

 fined warblers. Their voices are loud, their man- 

 ners brusque, their house without taste or real 

 comfort. They have no associates, no friends. 

 They never seem at ease, or interested in the 

 misfortunes or joys of those beneath them. Un- 

 fortunately there are other Tanagers in the world 

 than those who wear feathers. 



If the sparrows are by nature children of 

 the soil and the warblers children of the world, 

 the thrushes are without doubt the artists, the 

 musicians of the wood. I have never met a lover 

 of New England bird music who would hesitate 

 a moment about placing the hermit thrush and 

 his next of kin foremost among the songsters of 

 this part of the continent. They are true artists. 

 Their music is exquisite in itself, and their ren- 

 dering of it is sincere and emotional. The her- 

 mit thrush resting upon the low, leafless limb of 



