Song Birds and Water Fowl 



more noisy, than in winter. He was evidently 

 in a jocund mood that morning, for he some- 

 times reiterated his note so lustily and so many 

 times that it sounded exactly like a coarse but 

 hearty laugh resounding through the woods. 

 The ank of the nuthatch, as ordinarily uttered, 

 is about the laziest and most nasal sound in 

 Nature — a perfunctory, expressionless tone, as 

 any parental heart will appreciate, on being 

 told it is like the sound he has so often heard 

 squeezed out of rubber dolls and kittens. 



I also noted a thin sprinkling of that less 

 brilliant, but always looked -for warbler, the 

 "bay-breasted," which is one of the most 

 transient of our spring visitors. Outside the 

 woods, another vireo, the yellow-throated, en- 

 livened the still air with his loud and peculiar 

 note. 



A very delicate, but rather characterless, 

 creature, and quite abundant all about, is the 

 blue -winged yellow warbler, finely, but not 

 strongly, colored with rich yellow, olive-green, 

 and slaty blue. Of all the times I have seen 

 this tiny specimen I have never heard him 

 utter a single sound, which is peculiar; for, 

 since those having the least to say are usually 

 most garrulous, the various warblers, having 



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