VOICES OF BIRDS. 
Rural sounds, — -the voices, the language^ of the 
wild creatures, as heard by the naturalist, — belong to, 
and are in concord with, the country only. Our sight, 
our smell, may perhaps be deceived for an interval 
by conservatories, horticultural arts, and bowers of 
sweets ; but our hearing can in no way be beguiled 
by any semblance of what is heard in the grove or 
the field. The hum, the murmur, the medley of the 
mead, are peculiarly its own, admit of no imitation, 
and distinctly notify the various periods of the year, 
with an accuracy as certain as they are detailed in 
our calendars. The season of spring is always an- 
nounced as approaching by the notes of the rookery^ 
by the jangle or wooing accents of the dark frequent- 
ers of its trees ; and that time having passed away, 
these contentions and cadences are no longer heard. 
