6 WAKE-ROBIN 
people; and therefore we should expect stability in 
his workmanship, rather than elegance. 
Another April bird, which makes her appearance 
sometimes earlier and sometimes later than Robin, 
and whose memory I fondly cherish, is the phcebe- 
‘bird, the pioneer of the flycatchers. In the inland 
farming districts, I used to notice her, on some 
' bright morning about Easter Day, proclaiming her 
arrival, with much variety of motion.and attitude, 
from the peak of the barn or hay-shed. As yet, 
you may have heard only the plaintive, homesick 
note of the bluebird, or the faint trill of the song 
sparrow; and Phoebe’s clear, vivacious assurance of 
her veritable bodily presence among us again is wel- 
comed by all ears. At agreeable intervals in her 
lay she describes a circle or an ellipse in the air, 
ostensibly prospecting for insects, but really, I sus- 
pect, as an artistic flourish, thrown in to make up 
in some way for the deficiency of her musical per- 
formance. If plainness of dress indicates powers of 
song, as it usually does, then Phoebe ought to be 
unrivaled in musical ability, for surely that ashen- 
gray suit is the superlative of plainness; and that 
form, likewise, would hardly pass for a ‘ perfect 
figure”? of a bird. The seasonableness of her com- 
ing, however, and her civil, neighborly ways, shall 
make up for all deficiencies in song and plumage. 
After a few weeks Phoebe is seldom seen, except as 
she darts from her moss-covered nest beneath some 
bridge or shelving cliff. 
Another April comer, who arrives shortly after 
