FEBRUARY OUTINGS. 6 1 



never before heard from a song-sparrow's throat. 

 Some of his tones are full and exultant, while others 

 in the same run are low and tender, like the strains 

 of a love-lorn harp. The tones produced by exha- 

 lation can be distinguished from those produced 

 by inhalation. Sometimes his voice sounds a little 

 hoarse, as if he had strained one of the strings of 

 his lyre, but I find, on focusing my ear upon them, 

 that these are some of his most melodious notes. 

 Presently, in a fit of ecstasy, he hurls forth s^ch a 

 torrent of song, in allegro furioso, that one almost 

 fancies the naiads and water-witches of the marsh 

 are crying out for admiration. 



" Here is something worthy of note — when the 

 song-sparrow begins a trill, he usually sings it over a 

 number of times, and then, as if wearied with one 

 tune, turns to another ; and yet with all his varia- 

 tions — and I know not how many he is capable of 

 singing — there is always something distinctive about 

 his minstrelsy that differentiates it from that of all 

 other birds." 



February 17. "Again in the swamp. It seems 

 to me I have never before heard the song-sparrows 

 sing so gleefully. Every concert goes ahead of its 

 predecessor. Here is a sparrow hopping about on 

 the green grass among the bushes like a brown 

 mouse ; now he chirps sharply as if to attract my 

 attention, and then bursts into a melody that almost 

 makes me turn a somersault for very joy ; and now, 

 having sung his intermittent trills for a few minutes, 

 he begins to warble a sweet, continuous lay, with an 

 andante movement, as if he could not stop. 



