1 62 IN BIRD LAND. 



bing heart by storm, ran thus : " I love you very 

 dearly. You are so nice that I don't blame any- 

 body for falling in love with you. I don't see why 

 everybody does n't fall in love with you." If one 

 may judge from the impetuosity with which most 

 feathered lovers press their suits, there must be 

 many instances of such captivation in bird land. 



Have you ever been witness of the wooing of that 

 half- knightly, half-boorish bird, the yellow-hammer? 

 In the grove near my house several pairs of these 

 birds had a great time one spring settling their 

 hymeneal affairs. For hours a lover would pursue 

 the object of his affections around and around, never 

 giving her a moment's respite. No sooner had she 

 gone bounding to another tree than he would dash 

 after, often flinging himself recklessly right upon the 

 spot where she had alighted, compelling her to hitch 

 away, to avoid being struck by her impetuous lover. 

 His poHcy seemed to be to take her heart by storm, 

 to wear her out, to give her no time to think matters 

 over, to compel her, nolens volens, to consent to his 

 proposed marital alliance. No doubt she finally 

 said yes, merely to get rid of him, and then failed 

 of her purpose. After the courtship has passed its 

 first stage, and the wooed one has grown less shy, 

 the bowings and scrapings of the yellow-hammers 

 are truly ludicrous. The female will flit away only 

 a short distance, and will sometimes turn toward her 

 mottled suitor, when they will wag their heads at 

 each other, now to this side, now to that, in the 

 most serio-coraical manner imaginable. It is the 



