HOW TO STUDY THE BIRDS 17 



arrive, including the brightly plumaged orioles, scarlet tan- 

 agers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, indigo buntings, and bobo- 

 links. Our daintily attired warblers and retiring flycatchers 

 are haunting the trees, and vireos are carefully inspecting the 

 branches and leaf stems. ISIore ducks, shore birds, and other 

 waterfowl have arrived. The plover and yellow-legs are 

 whistling, and the gallinules and rails call to each other 

 from clumps of old rushes, which afford better protection 

 than the young vegetation. 



The phoebe, bob-white, woodcock, song sparrow, red- 

 shouldered hawk, screech owl, mourning dove, bluebird, 

 robin, blue jay, crow, brown thrasher, and towhee are all 

 busily engaged in the duties of hatching their eggs and rear- 

 ing their young. This is the season when birds in their 

 ecstasy become less cautious, and afford splendid opportuni- 

 ties for observation. 



You should arise before dawn, because with the first 

 ghmmer of daylight certain birds burst forth into song. 

 Before the sun has risen, many voices may be heard on the 

 meadows, in the woodlands, or about the marshes. Some 

 birds found singing at this time of the year are silent during 

 the day, but with the approach of twilight we are greeted 

 with the carol of the wood thrush, the hjTnn of the vesper 

 sparrow, and the cooing of the mourning dove. Night hawks 

 are conspicuous, and, as the curtain of night falls, we hear 

 the mournful cry of the owl and the weird note of the 

 whip-poor-will. 



In June nesting is at its height. The male birds are also 

 in full song, but the opportunity for bird observation is not 

 so good. Our feathered friends have more serious obliga- 



