APRIL BIRDS. 15 



of the robin which he carols forth for an 

 hour at a time in the April twilight 

 from some leafless tree in the pasture or 

 orchard? 



Since writing the above, on the evening 

 of the date of this letter, I have heard 

 robins in full song all along Harvard 

 Street, and they have now, undoubtedly, 

 generally begun singing in all parts of 

 the city: 



Another bird, which comes in April, or 

 even in March, is the phoebe-bird (sayornis 

 ftiscus), the pioneer of the fly-catchers. 

 Its cheerful and rapidly repeated phee-bee, 

 phee-bee, phee-bee is its spring note. In 

 the summer we hear phe-ee-bee, phe-ee-bee, 

 slower, sadder, and more in accordance 

 with the advancing season. 



The common chickadee, or black-capped 

 titmouse (parus atricapillns), has, in addi- 

 tion to its ordinary dee-dee-dee, a spring 

 note so much like the later note of 

 the phcebe that they cannot easily be 

 distinguished. I have never seen the 

 pretty note of the chickadee mentioned in 



