June in flocks and congregating on the 

 white sandy beach of the lake, remind- 

 ing one of the clouds of yellow butter- 

 flies that come to the same place at cer- 

 tain times of the year. At this time the 

 male thistle bird sings in a perfect 

 ecstacy of joy and love ; but of all their 

 attractive qualities none is so endearing 

 as a habit they have late in the fall of 

 singing as they fly high up, mere specks, 

 their exquisite ethereal notes drifting 

 down sometimes with the first snowflakes 

 as they go joyfully to meet the storm 

 and the night. 



Scarlet tanagers are often hardly more 

 agreeable in their marital relations than 

 the redeyed vireos, and though no doubt 

 they vary greatly in this respect, those 

 that I have noticed showed a decided cold- 

 ness, occasionally varied by marked cross- 

 ness. And the wooing of a scarlet tan- 

 ager is sometimes most amusing, for the 

 female is, or pretends to be, amazingly 

 indifferent and it must take a courageous 

 lover to persist in spite of her severe 

 manner, but male tanagers are gifted with 

 persistence and do not seem to go un- 

 mated, and they make most devoted 

 parents, though it w^ould hardly have 

 been expected of them after their seem- 

 ing indifference during the incubating. 

 One pair of tanagers that had a nest close 

 to the house, and so could be constantly 

 watched, were never on really friendly 

 terms with each other, sometimes quar- 

 reling outright, and only seeking each 

 other's society when some danger seemed 

 to threaten their young ones. Then the 

 female seemed glad of the presence of 

 her mate. Young scarlet tanagers are 

 very confiding and gentle in their ways, 

 and do not seem to have much fear of 

 man here. There are always several of 

 these pretty creatures flitting about in 

 the evergreens near the house at the sea- 

 son when they are old enough to begin 

 to take care of themselves, and they often 

 alight on the hammock ropes or sit on 

 the branches quite near me, looking on 

 with bright, interested eyes. They have 

 little playful ways that are rather un- 

 usual in a young bird and remind one 

 of kittens. Sometimes when a shred of 

 the arbor vitae bark hangs down above 

 them they will play with it, using their 

 beak as a kitten does its paws, and their 



voices have an almost plaintive sweet- 

 ness that adds greatly to their attrac- 

 tions. 



Next perhaps in fussiness to a redeyed 

 vireo may be counted the phoebe; and 

 there does not appear to be quite so 

 much reason for the phoebe's unhappy 

 frame of mind, for on the whole their 

 nests seem rather safer than those of 

 most birds, built as thev so often are in 

 sheltered places about the houses and 

 barns. But though the nests escape the 

 young phoebes are very liable to come to 

 grief, and their elders nearly wear them- 

 selves out when the young first leave the 

 nest, which they often choose to do on a 

 very stormy day. Phoebes are pugna- 

 cious, too, and carry on feuds among 

 themselves year after year, those on the 

 east side of the house always quarreliiig 

 with those on the west side, and when 

 they first come back in the spring thdie 

 are frequent conflicts, noisily carried on 

 in midair, which continue at intervals 

 until both parties are too busy with their 

 nests and young to attend to other 

 things, though even then, if an idle mo- 

 ment occurs, they promptly take advan- 

 tage of it to have a brush with each 

 other. There never seems to be any par- 

 ticular advantage gained on either side; 

 so dismal as they seem about it all they 

 no doubt rather enjoy the excitement 

 afforded by these little interludes. 



Young phoebes show none of these 

 aggressive qualities, and have the most 

 gentle and attractive manners and a pe- 

 culiar air of innocence that is most capti- 

 vating. If the parent phoebe brings up 

 an insect all the nestlings, who may be 

 sitting in a row on a branch, wave their 

 soft wings and squeak. The parent in- 

 spects them for a moment and then feeds 

 one. The instant the old bird has de- 

 cided which shall be fed the rest subside 

 and wait quietly until her return. There 

 is no pushing and crowding or following 

 the parent. 



The slate colored junco is another of 

 the essentially cheerful spirits, yet has a 

 remarkable sedateness and self-posses- 

 sion, such as one is sometimes surprised 

 to find in people of particularly quiet and 

 gentle dispositions. And he has one habit 

 that has made him very dear, for he 

 always appears in the fall and remains 



