44 FROM SPRING TO FALL. 



It takes a lifetime of study, for the pure love 

 of it, to distinguish, not to speak of describing, 

 the voices of the woods ; they vary so, according 

 as different passions actuate their owners. As it 

 is with common humanity, so it is with other 

 creatures : hate, love, fear, distrust of others, and 

 confidence influence the furred and feathered dwel- 

 lers under green leaves. When they are far better 

 understood than they are at present, it will be 

 better for all interested in this question. That is, 

 if some of the most interesting and useful are not 

 exterminated. 



Quite independent of the usual dwellers in and 

 about the woodlands, there are stray visitors that 

 only pay temporary visits there ; but these lend 

 their voices to the general company. Rooks, jack- 

 daws, and starlings pass over or settle at times on 

 their way to or from their feeding-grounds. As to 

 the jays, they are squawking about from sunrise to 

 roosting-time, unless they are visiting the gardens in 

 quest of green peas or cherries. When that is the 

 case, they flit from the woods to the gardens in 

 silence. When the jay tries his vocal power for the 

 edification of his mate in the courting season, he 



