A Bouquet of Song Birds 



to be in a snarling mood, just at the time when 

 it particularly behooves him to be affable and 

 charming. 



Entering the woods I found a perfect carni- 

 val in progress — trees and bushes flashing with 

 bright colors, and the air song-laden with a 

 delicate but universal chorus. One of the rare 

 species in our latitude is the beautiful " hooded 

 warbler," elegantly costumed in a black velvet 

 mantle over a golden bodice, unique and strik- 

 ing. These woods are about the most norther- 

 ly limit where one can find it in considerable 

 numbers. It is an exception to most of the 

 warblers in having a song as rich and charac- 

 teristic as its plumage. In fact, I heard two 

 entirely different melodies from this species, 

 which one could not suppose to belong to the 

 same bird. Whether he has any more arias in 

 his repertoire I cannot say. He thus scores a 

 double success, sure not only to please the 

 critics, but to win the approval of that large 

 portion of every concert-audience which is 

 more deeply stirred by the costume than the 

 song. He is also peculiar in his manner of 

 running about over tree-trunks, not hugging 

 the bark, like a brown creeper, but with legs 

 as straight as in the nuthatch. 



