38 BIRD-SONGS ABOUT WORCESTER. 



seen in this vicinity, and many of these 

 only twice a year, in the migrations, when 

 on their way to or from British America. 

 There are few greater contrasts in nature 

 than that presented by these Northern 

 warblers, many of them the most elegant 

 of their family, seeking out the vast unin- 

 habited forests of the far North in which 

 to breed and rear their young. 



As I walk along the edge of the woods 

 my attention is attracted by a very notice- 

 able tri-colored bird, nearly as large as a 

 robin, flitting about in a heap of brush. 

 The unmistakable piedness of his dress, 

 and a sharp cherawink at once serve to 

 identify him as the chewink, or towee- 

 bunting, or ground-robin (pipilo erytJiro- 

 phthalmus). I had been expecting him 

 for a day or two, as he always makes his 

 appearance a little before May-day. Who 

 but an ornithologist would suppose the 

 bird to be a sparrow, with his glossy black 

 back, bright chestnut breast, and clear 

 white beneath, so totally unlike the plainly 

 dressed members of that family with 



