CHAPTER III 



STUDENT DAYS 



My first college vacation after going to Harvard 

 was spent at my mother's house in Plainfield, New 

 Jersey, on the outskirts of the town. I was in 

 Plainfield early in June, and made a very con- 

 siderable collection during the holidays. This 

 was composed chiefly of the local birds breeding 

 in the region, and now, as I became acquainted 

 with them, the list of known kinds grew rapidly. 

 Wilson's thrush, the brown thrasher, the house- 

 wren, the scarlet tanager, the rose-breasted gros- 

 beak, the yellow-breasted chat, the orchard oriole, 

 the Baltimore oriole, the blue-winged yellow 

 warbler, and the yellow warbler were noticeable, 

 most of them common, and new to me. The 

 scarlet tanager and the yellow-breasted chat par- 

 ticularly struck me, — one a gorgeous, fiery spot 

 among the fresh new green of the oak leaves, and 

 the other a voice, the owner of which remained 

 long unknown. This voice came from various 

 tangles and dense thickets. It began with a 

 croak, and then followed a sort of whoop ; now a 

 sharp whistle succeeded by a rapid series of short 



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