72 
BIRDS 
light of a June day, and when fifty rods 
distant you will hear their soft, reverber¬ 
ating notes, repeated and prolonged with 
exquisite melodiousness, rising from a 
dozen different throats. 
It is one of the simplest strains to be 
# heard,—as simple as the curve in form, 
and mellower than the tenderest tones 
of the flute,—delighting from the pure 
element of harmony and beauty it con¬ 
tains, and not from any novel or fantas¬ 
tic modulation of it,—thus contrasting 
strongly with such rollicking, hilarious 
songsters as the Bobolink, in whom we 
are chiefly pleased with the tintinnabu¬ 
lation, the verbal and labial excellence, 
and the evident conceit and delight of 
the performer. 
1 hardly know whether 1 am more 
pleased or annoyed with the Cat-Bird. 
Perhaps she is a little too common, and 
her part in the general chorus a little 
too conspicuous. If you are listening for 
the note of another bird, she is sure to 
be prompted to the most loud and pro¬ 
tracted singing, drowning all other 
sounds; if you sit quietly down to ob- 
