34 WASTE-LAND WANDERINGS. 



Jersey. Of the cardinal-grosbeak, or winter redbird, it 



is said : 



" The redbird lies, without regret: 

 However dry, it whistles ' wetl' " 



That is, the bird is credited with knowing it will not 

 rain, and teases the farmer by singing " wet " in his 

 ears all day. Others put another meaning on the red- 

 bird's note, and claim it to be a sure sign of rain. This 

 is more like the ordinary sayings commonly heard, and 

 let us give it a moment's consideration. At present, the 

 time of year when the cardinal-birds sing least is during 

 the hot summer months. Not that they are absolutely 

 mute for even a few daysat a time, but relatively so as 

 compared with their joyous strains through autumn and 

 winter ; and again, early in summer, when they are nest- 

 ing, these birds, like robins, are more apt to sing directly 

 after a shower than at any other time. 



So much for the gay cardinal as a weather prophet. 

 The rare summer redbird — a tanager — which also utters 

 a whistling note, well described by the syllable " wet," 

 shortly and sharply expressed, is likewise said to proph- 

 esy rain. The probabilities are that the note of the red- 

 bird, cardinal and summer, suggesting the word " wet," 

 has given rise to the belief that their utterance was a 

 sign of a coming shower or storm. It is often by such 

 illogical methods that these sayings have become estab- 

 lished. After a few repetitions they become fixed in 

 the mind and their origin forgotten ; they are invested 

 with an importance not their due, and not attributed to 

 them by their originators. Ultimately they are incor- 

 porated in the weather-lore of the country. 



