74 BIRD PARADISE 



The young fellows of this family were active and 

 evidently were fast learning the mysteries of bird 

 life. I have a notion that the families of this 

 species of birds remain together longer than those 

 of their fellow birds. The number that I usually 

 see together are about the measure of a single 

 household. I am a little at a loss to determine 

 just what this bird uses for food. I rarely ever 

 see him using auything — in fact it is the only bird 

 that seems to get on without a large commissary. 

 The family I saw kept company with me, for 

 quite a distance, then balanced away to the far 

 side of the adjacent pasture. What a mellow 

 richness there is in their song. It is as Bur- 

 roughs says, " purity in its completest sense." 

 He says also that it is the bird of nature, being 

 in color "sky blue above, and earth brown be- 

 low," adding, " that his appearance in the spring 

 denotes that the war between sky and earth is 

 ended, in him the celestial and terrestrial striking 

 hands and becoming fast friends." 



I hear the call of the bobolink from high in the 

 air. The flocks are passing daily and the wonder 

 is where so many come from. They are all of one 

 <!olor — a sort of olive green — and seem to be 



