VOICES OF BIRDS. 
299 
fragrant flowers are in the copse and the mead, and all 
things telling of gratulation and of joy. The children 
mark this well known sound — spring out, and “ cuckoo ! 
cuckoo ! ” as they gambol down the lane. The very 
ploughboy bids him welcome in the early morn. It is 
hardly spring without the cuckoo’s song ; and, having 
told his tale, he has voice for no more — is silent or 
away. 
“ Then comes the dark, swift winged martin, glancing 
through the air, that seems afraid to visit our uncertain 
clime : he comes, though late, and hurries through his 
business here, eager again to depart, all day long in 
agitation and precipitate flight. The bland zephyrs of 
the spring have no charms with them, hut, basking and 
careering in the sultry gleams of June and July, they 
associate in throngs, and, screaming, dash round the 
steeple or the ruined tower, to serenade their nesting 
mates, and glare and heat are in their train. When 
the fervour of summer ceases, this bird of the sun will 
depart. The evening robin, from the summit of some 
leafless bough, or projecting point, tells us that autumn 
is come, and brings matured fruits, chilly airs, and 
sober hours, and he, the lonely minstrel now that sings, 
is understood by all. These four birds thus indicate a 
separate season, have no interference with the intelli- 
gence of the other, nor could they be transposed 
without the loss of all the meaning they convey, which 
no contrivance of art could supply, and, by long 
association, they have become identified with the 
period, and in peculiar accordance with the time. 
“ We note birds in general more from their voices 
than their plumage, for the carols of spring may be 
heard involuntarily, but to observe the form and 
decoration of these creatures requires an attention not 
always given. Yet we have some native birds beauti- 
fully and conspicuously feathered, —the goldfinch, the 
chaffinch, the wagtails, are all eminently adorned, and 
the fine gradations of sober browns in several others 
are very pleasing. Those sweet sounds, called the song 
of birds, proceed only from the male, and, with a few 
