OUR HOME BIRDS. 
77 
cayed heart. A week or two before the nesting 
seemed actually to have begun three or four of these 
birds might be seen on almost any bright morning 
gambolling and courting amid its decayed branches. 
Sometimes you would hear only a gentle, persuasive 
cooing or a quiet, confidential chattering ; then that 
loud, long call, taken up by first one then, another, 
as they sat about upon the naked limbs ; anon, a sort 
of wild, rollicking laughter, intermingled with vari- 
ous cries, yelps, and squeals, as if some incident had 
excited their mirth and ridicule. Whether this 
social hilarity and boisterousness is in celebration 
of the pairing or mating ceremony, or whether it is 
only a sort of annual “ house-warming” common 
among “ high-holes ” on resuming their summer 
quarters, remains undecided.’ 
“ There are several other kinds of woodpeckers, 
which will receive their share of notice when we 
come to the winter birds. 
“ The phoebe-bird, or pewee fly-catcher, is another 
of our early songsters — almost as early as the robin; 
and sitting on a projecting twig near some stream of 
water, and in the vicinity of a bridge or a cave, he 
will call out pe-wee, pe-wittitee pe-wee y for a whole 
morning, darting after insects, and returning to the 
same twig, frequently flirting his tail like the wag- 
tail, though not so rapidly. 
7 * 
