Song Birds and Water Fowl 



ling vireo. This bird, by his manner, re- 

 minds one of a bottle of some effervescent 

 liquid that has been uncorked so long that all 

 its native sparkle has escaped. He is too ex- 

 alted to be annoyed by the remark that his 

 listless air takes even the splendor out of his 

 gorgeous robes ; and, as for other fascinations, 

 almost any of the homelier birds are more con- 

 genial to my taste. A silent blue jay posed so 

 effectively in the clear sunlight that the lustre 

 of his costume would make one almost forget 

 his villainy, and, fortunately, he did not spoil 

 the charm by uttering a single sound. It is a 

 just retribution on this corrupt fowl that we 

 commonly associate with him only that horrible 

 scream that is so consonant with his nature. 

 Yet, like the catbird, he is a conspicuous in- 

 stance of wasted talents, of which he often gives 

 proof in a wide variety of clear and beautiful 

 whistles. Potentially he is a rich contralto, 

 his " organ " is not surpassed by that of many 

 of our noted vocalists, and he only lacks that 

 without which the rarest voice is essentially a 

 failure, namely, musical temperament. The 

 busy and vigorous downy woodpecker was 

 loudly knocking for admittance into many a 

 tree, and the endless polyphony showed the 



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