Songs of the Fields 



bii'd — tlie oriole — with bi-ea.st and heart of gold, 

 flashes above it; the cardinal, with shrill whistle, 

 nests ])eside it; the catbird and jay, the robin. The 

 thrush, do\e, and chat, all home alono' its banks, ^^^'^^. , 



' ' . . * . River Bird 



and in them nests the tj^pical bird of the river, the 

 kingfisher. 



No wonder he laughs so loud. 



No wonder he looks so proud, 



There are great kuigs would give their royalty. 



To have one day of his felicitj'." 



Thus sang JNIaurice Thompson, the sweetest 

 musician the Wabash ever knew. Six feet the 

 birds tunnel into a pebbly, firm embankment; on 

 the ground deposit at least six oblong, white eggs, 

 and the mother walls them in with regurgitated 

 fish bones heaped arovuid her as she broods. One 

 family to a season is the rule, and the young I'e- 

 main long in the nest before they become self-sup- 

 porting and add their voices to the chorus of the 

 river. 



The kingfisher is one of the birds of most an- 

 cient history, and very interesting. A large vol- 

 ume coidd be filled with tradition and story con- 

 cerning it. This proves that people of all time 

 have found it worthy of consideration. Its song- 

 is not musical according to our standards, but it 

 is the gayest, most care-free, rollicking bird of the 

 river, and one whose presence is almost universally 



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