MIDSUMMER SONGSTERS. 8 1 



delivered in a listless and perfunctory 

 manner, as if the bird had little heart for 

 singing. It seemed to be a reminiscence 

 of the gay springtime, expressing no 

 present joy but rather a regret for the 

 joyful days that were gone. Until within 

 a day or two I have not heard for over a 

 month the rich warble of the golden- 

 robin. It is now their second springtime. 

 It is -a well-known fact, though very 

 difficult to explain, that these birds after 

 remaining silent for nearly a month, again 

 become vocal in August just before their 

 departure for the South. The loud squeak- 

 ing and booming of the nighthawk is still 

 one of the commonest evening sounds 

 along our city streets, and the weird cry of 

 the whippoorwill is still common enough 

 along the shores of Lake Quinsigamond, 

 but these goat-suckers are not to be classed 

 with singing-birds at all. 



The most persistent and reliable mid- 

 summer songsters, however, are the song, 

 vesper, and field sparrows, the chewink, 

 the indigo-bird, the wood-pewee, and the 

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