112 IN BIRD LAND. 



by sent a thrill of gladness through my veins. I felt 

 intuitively that there were birds in abundance in the 

 neighborhood, and my presentiment proved correct ; 

 for before my brief search was completed, I was 

 permitted to record the songs of the indigo-bird, 

 the cardinal grossbeak, the towhee bunting, the 

 wood-pewee, the Baltimore oriole, and the black- 

 capped chickadee ; while, no sooner had I stepped 

 out of the woods into the adjoining swamp, than 

 the song-sparrow chimed merrily, " Oh, certainly, 

 certainly, you must n't forget me-me-me ! No-sirree, 

 no-sirree ! " 



One of the most blithesome trillers of midsummer 

 was the grass-finch, which sang his canticles until 

 about the twelfth of August, when he suddenly took 

 leave for parts unknown. It seemed to me he sang 

 more vigorously in July than in May, for several 

 times he prolonged his trill with such splendid 

 musical effect as to make me rush out to the adjoin- 

 ing field to find a lark-sparrow. The black-throated 

 bunting remained here almost as long, rasping his 

 harsh notes until he also took his flight. I was 

 somewhat disappointed in the meadow-larks, having 

 heard but one note from their tuneful throats during 

 August ; but when September came, they resumed 

 their shrill choruses, which lasted until November, 

 increasing in vigor as the autumn advanced. 



The robins were chary of their music, only two 

 songs having been heard during August, one of 

 them on the fourteenth. But the little bush-sparrow 

 made ample compensation, chanting his pensive 



