176 NATURAL HISTORY READER. 



mornings in October with his lays, and the shore-lark, 

 after spending the summer in Labrador and about the 

 shores of Hudson's Bay, is sometimes heard in autumn, soar- 

 ing and singing at the dawn of day, while on their passage 

 to the South. The bobolink, the veery, or Wilson's thrush, 

 the red thrush, and the golden robin are silent after the 

 middle of July ; the wood-thrush, the cat-bird, and the 

 common robin, not until a month later ; but the song- 

 sparrow alone continues to sing throughout the summer. 

 The tuneful season of the year in New England embraces a 

 period of about four months — from the middle of April to 

 the middle of August. 



12. There are certain times of the clay, as well as cer- 

 tain seasons of the year, when the birds are most musical. 

 The grand concert of the feathered tribe takes place during 

 the hour between dawn and sunrise. During the re- 

 mainder of the day they sing less in concert, though many 

 species are very musical at noonday, and seem, like the noc- 

 turnal birds, to prefer the hour when others are silent. 

 At sunset there is an apparent attempt to unite once more 

 in chorus, but this is far from being so loud or so general 

 as in the morning. The little birds which I have classed 

 in the fourth division are a very important accompaniment 

 to the anthem of dawn, their notes, though short, serving 

 agreeably to fill up the pauses made by the other musicians. 

 Thus, the hair-bird has a sharp and trilling note, without 

 any modulation, and not at all melodious when heard 

 alone ; but in the morning it is the chief harmonizer of 

 the whole chorus, and seems, more than any other voice, 

 to give unity and symphony to the multitude of miscella- 

 neous parts. 



13. There are not many birds whose notes could be ac- 

 curately described upon the gamut. The nearest approach 

 we can make to accuracy is to give some general idea of 

 their time and modulation. Their musical intervals can be 



