62 IN BIRD LAND. 



" A little farther on, another songster, with a 

 voice of excellent timbre, is descanting on a small 

 oak sapling. Note, he runs over several trills, rising 

 higher at every effort, until at last he strikes a note 

 far up in the scale, holds it firmly a moment, and 

 then drops to a lower note. Then he repeats the 

 process, the summit of his ambition being attained 

 whenever he reaches that high note, which is 

 bewitchingly sweet. How clear and true his voice 

 rings ! 



" Sometimes a silence falls upon the marsh ; not 

 a note is to be heard for a minute or twoj and 

 then, as if by a preconcerted signal, a dozen spar- 

 rows throw the air into musical tumult, their com- 

 bined rush of notes seeming almost like a salvo. 

 Often, too, when I approach the marsh, no music is 

 heard, but no sooner have I climbed the fence into 

 the enclosure than the choral begins ; so that I 

 believe I am justified in saying that the song-spar- 

 row appreciates a human auditor. This is not said 

 by way of disparagement, — by no means ; for 

 almost all musicians, whether human or avian, sing 

 to be heard." 



On the same day I saw a song-sparrow whose 

 central tail-feather was pure white from quill to tip, 

 and the bird remained in the marsh until the twenty- 

 fourth of the month, his odd adornment visible from 

 afar. I was also surprised to find two male che- 

 winks in the bushes. A cardinal grossbeak was also 

 seen, and a robin's song and the loud call of a 

 flicker were heard. 



