HINTS FOR BEGINNERS. 



xv 



seems so certain to me. It is impossible to reproduce a 

 bird's notes in type; the most that can be done is to 

 give a metrical equivalent. Then all birds have a vari- 

 ety of songs. It was years before I heard the blue jay's 

 beautiful bell-like note. The robin 's favorite utterance 

 is "Kill him! Cure him! Give him physic!" but he 

 offers many other things beside medical advice. The 

 song-sparrow's cadenza is about as constant as any, 

 but different individuals vary greatly in this respect. 

 The purple finch and the warbling vireo sing very 

 much alike ; but the carol of the former is like a long, 

 linked chain, while the song of the vireo is much 

 shorter with an abrupt ending: "Brigadier, brigadier, 

 brigate!" Most of the warblers say nothing but zee- 

 zee-zee or chee-chee-klur-wee ; but when your ear be- 

 comes attuned, you can make out the "Trees, trees, 

 murmuring trees ! " of the black-throated green. 



