FEBRUARY OUTINGS. 59 



had come, broke into a jingling chorus. Early in 

 the season as it was, they seemed to be almost in 

 perfect voice, only a little of the hesitancy and 

 twitter of their fall songs being distinguishable ; 

 nor did they seem to care for the raw evening 

 wind blowing across the meadows, or the gray 

 clouds scurrying athwart the sky, but kept up their 

 canticles until the dusk fell. 



Two days later, while sauntering through a wood- 

 land, I had the greatest surprise of the winter. For 

 several years I had been studying the tree-sparrows, 

 hoping to hear them sing, but only two or three 

 times had my anxious quest been rewarded with 

 even a wisp of melody from their lyrical throats. 

 On this day, however, I came upon a whole colony 

 of them in full tune, giving a concert that would 

 have thrilled the most prosaic soul with poetry and 

 romance. It was the first time I had ever really 

 seen these birds while singing; but now, so kind 

 was fortune, I could watch the movement of their 

 mandibles, the swelling of their throats, and the 

 heaving of their bosoms while they trilled their 

 roundelays. My notes, taken on the spot, run as 

 follows : " The song is somewhat crude and labored 

 in technique ; but the tones are very sweet indeed, 

 not soft and low, as one author says, but quite loud 

 and clear, so that they might be heard at some dis- 

 tance. The minstrelsy is more like that of the fox- 

 sparrow than of any other sparrow, though the tones 

 are finer and not so full and resonant. Quite often 

 the song opens with one or two long syllables, and 



