BIRD-SONGS 
few feet from the ground, like the words, “ preacher, 
preacher, preacher,” or “teacher, teacher, teacher,” 
uttered louder and louder, and repeated six or 
seven times, is also familiar to most ears; but its 
wild, ringing, rapturous burst of song in the air high 
above the tree-tops is not so well known. From a 
very prosy, tiresome, unmelodious singer, it is sud- 
denly transformed for a brief moment into a lyric 
poet of great power. It is a great surprise. The 
bird undergoes a complete transformation. Ordi- 
narily it is a very quiet, demure sort of bird. It 
walks about over the leaves, moving its head like a 
little hen; then perches on a limb a few feet from 
the ground and sends forth its shrill, rather prosy, 
unmusical chant. Surely it is an ordinary, common- 
place bird. But wait till the inspiration of its flight- 
song is upon it. What a change! Up it goes 
through the branches of the trees, leaping from 
limb to limb, faster and faster, till it shoots from 
the tree-tops fifty or more feet into the air above 
them, and bursts into an ecstasy of song, rapid, 
ringing, lyrical; no more like its habitual perform- 
ance than a match is like a rocket; brief but 
thrilling ; emphatic but musical. Having reached 
its climax of flight and song, the bird closes its 
wings and drops nearly perpendicularly downward 
like the skylark. If its song were more prolonged, it 
would rival the song of that famous bird. The bird 
does this many times a day during early June, but 
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