SOME NOTE 
1 
By 
ON OUR NATIVE BIRDS* 
DARIUS BAKER. 
I feel out of place in addressing you to night. I belong, 
as it were, to the primer class, and the desultory notes 
which I shall read are only the observations of a beginner 
in one corner of the wide field of investigation open to 
students in natural history. It is a curious fact that we 
can go through the world with our eyes open, and yet fail 
even to see the greater part of the bird, insect and plant 
life about us, to say nothing of having any real knowledge 
of it. Since boyhood the commoner kinds of birds, like the 
robin, blackbird, crow, swallow, bluebird (rarely seen here, 
it is true) and some others have been known to me; but 
till quite recently I never dreamed that we have so many 
and such beautiful feathered visitors. 
One day, two or three years ago, I saw on my lawn a 
bird about two-thirds as long as a robin, with beautiful 
crimson body and brown wings and tail just tinged with 
red. Inquiry of our good friend, Mr. Parmenter, wise in 
bird lore, elicited the suggestion that it was probably a 
purple finch, as it indeed was. To some of you the state¬ 
ment that I have no recollection of seeing his counterpart 
before will seem astonishing. It appears absurd to me now, 
for he has come to be an old acquaintance and a favorite. 
He is so frequently seen on our lawns and in the trees 
about our houses, has so charming a song, and withal is 
so beautiful that it is remarkable that he is not more gen¬ 
erally admired. His name is not very satisfactory, as his 
color has no suggestion of purple, so far as my observation 
goes. The female is quite soberly brown, with only the 
faintest suggestion of red. 
•Read before the Society February 26, 
