10 WAKE-ROBIN 
laughter, intermingled with various cries, yelps, 
and squeals, as if some incident had excited their 
mirth and ridicule. Whether this social hilarity 
and boisterousness is in celebration of the pairing 
or mating ceremony, or whether it is only a sort of 
annual “house-warming ” common among high-holes 
on resuming their summer quarters, is a question 
upon which IJ reserve my judgment. 
Unlike most of his kinsmen, the golden-wing 
prefers the fields and the borders of the forest to 
the deeper seclusion of the woods, and hence, con- 
trary to the habit of his tribe, obtains most of his 
subsistence from the ground, probing it for ants 
and crickets. He is not quite satisfied with being 
a woodpecker. He courts the society of the robin 
and the finches, abandons the trees for the meadow, 
and feeds eagerly upon berries and grain. What 
may be the final upshot of this course of living is 
a question worthy the attention of Darwin. Will 
his taking to the ground and his pedestrian feats 
result in lengthening his legs, his feeding upon 
berries and grains subdue his tints and soften his 
voice, and his associating with Robin put a song 
into his heart? 
Indeed, what would be more interesting than the 
history of our birds for the last two or three centu- 
ries? There can be no doubt that the presence of 
man has exerted a very marked and friendly influ- 
ence upon them, since they so multiply in his 
society. The birds of California, it is said, were 
mostly silent till after its settlement, and I doubt 
