38 
BIRDS 
It is to be expected, therefore, that 
"Yellow-Hammer” will respond to the 
general tendency, and contribute his part 
to the spring chorus. His April call is 
his finest touch, his most musical expres¬ 
sion. 
I recall an ancient Maple standing 
sentry to a large Sugar-Bush, that, year 
after year, afforded protection to a brood 
of Yellow-Hammers ( in its decayed 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 chatter¬ 
ing,—then that long, loud call, taken up 
by first one, then another, as they sat 
about upon the naked limbs,— anon, a 
sort of wild, rollicking laughter, inter¬ 
mingled with various 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 cere¬ 
mony, or whether it is only a sort ot 
