230 



A ME RICA N OR A J THOLOGY. 





r#c". * 





Photo from life by C. A. Reed. 



JUST AFTER FEEDING. 



Throughout the East the high pitched piping melody that constitutes 

 their song is one of the most familiar sounds of rural life. Beginning 

 with a single drawn out whistle of a varying intermediate pitch, it con- 

 tinues through a succession of three or four high keyed ones into'a 

 pleasing trill. It is a little song that once heard and identified will not 

 likely be forgotten or confused with that of any other bird. 



I have lately seen their song compared to that of the Prairie War- 

 bler. Both of these birds breed in the same fields about Worcester 

 and I have never seen resemblance enough to warrant considering 

 them together. One is the clear fiute-like whistle of the Sparrow, 

 while the other is composed of the peculiar, hesitating, squeaky notes 

 common to many of the warblers. Both birds share equally the task 

 of constructing their nest and in feeding the young. Both are equally 

 emphatic in their objections when the home is threatened. Like all 

 other species of birds different individuals show great differences in 

 their temperaments. If you approach the nest of one pair they may 



