Brewster on Southern Birds. 
99 
The male always sings from an elevated perch, usually a 
dead twig close to the trunk of a southern pine. He sits per- 
fectly motionless and is unaccountably hard to see. I have often 
stood directly beneath one for several minutes, vainly straining 
my eyes in the direction from whence the sound came, and perhaps 
finally discovered him within ten feet of my head in plain view. 
The ventriloquous character of many of his notes increases this 
difficulty. If disturbed in the midst of his song, he pitches to 
the ground beneath and at once seeks shelter in the grass. 
Another characteristic inhabitant of these grassy openings was 
the Meadow Lark. It was much tamer than our northern bird, 
and its notes had a wild, ringing inflection that harmonized well 
with the surroundings. 
In the thicker groves I often heard the voice of the Summer 
Tanager ( Pyranga cestiva ). His song is rich, flowing, and not 
unlike that of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, although some of its 
notes recall those of the Robin. The call-note used by both 
sexes is a peculiar chuck' 1-chuckV ut . The bright colors of the 
male make him a conspicuous object among the branches of the 
sbuthern pine which, at least in Georgia, is his favorite tree. 
The Yellow-throated Warbler also was sure to be met with in 
these walks. His song to my ear has a far-a-way sound, even 
when the bird is near at hand. It is simple and monotonous, 
but nevertheless sweet and plaintive. This bird has all the habits 
of the Pine Warbler, with which it often associates. 
A totally different phase of bird-life was presented when, as was 
often the case. I visited the plantations. The fields themselves 
rarely offered anything more attractive than Yellow-winged 
Sparrows, Grass Finches and, late in April, migratory troops of 
Bobolinks that settled among the last year’s weeds for a moment 
before resuming their northward journey with rollicking snatches 
of song. But the fence corners and similar neglected places 
around the outskirts of the cultivated lands were filled with 
bushes over which trailed Cherokee roses, trumpet-vines and 
other luxuriant creepers. In these places I was sure to find 
Mockingbirds, Cardinals, Catbirds, Brown Thrushes, White-eyed 
Vireos and the brilliant little Painted Buntings. 
Next to the always self-assertive Mockingbird the White-eyed 
Vireo was perhaps the most conspicuous inhabitant of such 
thickets. Not that he was often seen, but at almost any time of 
