16 THE BIRD OF SOLITUDE. 



a lively " quit ! quit ! " at the same time raising 

 the feathers of head, neck, and shoulders, till 

 she appears to be adorned with a high ruff and 

 shoulder cape. If you refuse to take the hint 

 and move away, she will finally drop her voice 

 into a low "tut, tut," showing her excitement 

 by quick, nervous jerks of both wings and tail. 

 After a little, her demonstrations will bring to 

 her side the beautiful singer himself. Like a 

 feather he alights on the branch, the perfect 

 copy of his mate. A few low remarks, evi- 

 dently derogatory to you, are exchanged, and 

 away they fly together. 



Should you come too near the singer, when 

 alone, or should something in your manner 

 arouse his suspicions, he will slip down behind 

 the tree or shrub he is on, and depart so silently 

 and so near the ground that you neither see nor 

 hear him. The first intimation of his flight will 

 be his song afar off, when it will seem to you 

 that he is a phantom, a mere wandering voice. 



The song of this bird defies description, 

 though it has inspired both extravagant and 

 poetical attempts in the most prosaic of writers. 

 When heard from a distance, it sounds very 

 deliberate : a succession of detached passages, 

 with frequent pauses, ending in a trill, some- 

 times easily distinguished as such, but often so 

 rapidly delivered that it resembles the syllable 



