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diff --git a/28019-h/28019-h.htm b/28019-h/28019-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b13b352 --- /dev/null +++ b/28019-h/28019-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9579 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Birds in the Bush, by Bradford Torrey</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + + .pagenum { + color: black; + text-align: right; + width: 4em; + position: absolute; + right: 0.5em; + padding: 0 0 0 0 ; + margin: auto 0 auto 0; + white-space:nowrap; + font-size: 10px; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + font-style: normal; + letter-spacing: normal; + text-indent: 0; + } + +.linenum { + position: absolute; + top: auto; + left: 4%; +} /* poetry number */ + +.blockquot { + margin:2em; + font-size:0.9em; +} + + div.index { + font-size: 90%; + } + ul.IX { + list-style-type: none; + font-size:inherit; + margin: 2em 0; + } + .IX li { + margin: 0.5em 0; + } + ul.ix { + list-style-type: none; + font-size:inherit; + margin: 0 0; + } + .ix li { + margin: 0 + } + + +p.center {text-align: center;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px; margin-top: 1em;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ + + div.poem { + text-align:left; + margin-left:10%; + width:80%; + position: relative; + } + .poem h4 { + margin-left: 5em; + font-weight: normal; + text-decoration: underline; + } + .poem .stanza { + margin-top: 1em; + } + .stanza span, + .stanza div, + .stanza p + { + display:block; + line-height: 1.2em; + padding-left: 2em; + text-indent: -2em; + margin-top: 0; + } + .stanza br { + display: none; + } + + .poem .i0 {display:block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem .i1 {display:block; margin-left: 3em;} + .poem .i2 {display:block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem .i3 {display:block; margin-left: 5em;} + .poem .i4 {display:block; margin-left: 6em;} + .poem .i10 {display:block; margin-left: 12em;} + .poem .i14 {display:block; margin-left: 16em;} + .poem .i16 {display:block; margin-left: 18em;} + .poem .i21 {display:block; margin-left: 23em;} + .poem .i30 {display:block; margin-left: 32em;} + + .front p {text-align:center;} + .signature {display: block; margin-left:20em; font-variant: small-caps;} + .signature_2 {display: block; margin-left:10em; font-variant: small-caps;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} +// --> +/* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Birds in the Bush, by Bradford Torrey</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Birds in the Bush</p> +<p>Author: Bradford Torrey</p> +<p>Release Date: February 7, 2009 [eBook #28019]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BIRDS IN THE BUSH***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Robin Monks, Joseph Cooper, Leonard Johnson,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" + style="width: 308px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" + width="308" + height="500" + alt="Front cover." + title="" /> +</div> +<div class="front"> +<h1>BIRDS IN THE BUSH</h1> +<br /> +<p><span style="font-size:.8em;">BY</span><br /> +BRADFORD TORREY</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<p style="font-size:.8em;">SIXTH EDITION<br /> +<br /> +</p> +<div class="figcenter" + style="width: 117px;"> +<img src="images/logo.jpg" + width="117" + height="150" + alt="Logo" + title="" /> +</div> + +<p>BOSTON<br /> +HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY<br /> +New York: 11 East Seventeenth Street<br /> +The Riverside Press, Cambridge<br /> +1893</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<p>Copyright, 1885,<br /> +<span class="smcap">By</span> BRADFORD TORREY</p> +<br /> +<p><i>All rights reserved.</i></p> +<br /> +<br /> +<p><i>The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.</i><br /> +Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company.</p> +</div> <!-- frontmatter --> + +<hr /> +<p>Wherefore, let me intreat you to read it with favour and +attention, and to pardon us, wherein we may seem to come +short of some words, which we have laboured to interpret.<br /> + +<span style="text-align:right; display:block;"><i>The Prologue of the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach.</i></span></p> + + + + +<hr /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap;"><a href="#ON_BOSTON_COMMON">On Boston Common</a></span></td><td align="right">1</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap;"><a href="#BIRD-SONGS">Bird-Songs</a></span></td><td align="right">31</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap;"><a href="#CHARACTER_IN_FEATHERS">Character in Feathers</a></span></td><td align="right">53</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap;"><a href="#IN_THE_WHITE_MOUNTAINS">In the White Mountains</a></span></td><td align="right">75</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap;"><a href="#PHILLIDA_AND_CORIDON">Phillida and Coridon</a></span></td><td align="right">103</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap;"><a href="#SCRAPING_ACQUAINTANCE">Scraping Acquaintance</a></span></td><td align="right">129</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap;"><a href="#MINOR_SONGSTERS">Minor Songsters</a></span></td><td align="right">155</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap;"><a href="#WINTER_BIRDS_ABOUT_BOSTON">Winter Birds about Boston</a></span></td><td align="right">185</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap;"><a href="#A_BIRD-LOVERS_APRIL">A Bird-Lover's April</a></span></td><td align="right">211</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap;"><a href="#AN_OWLS_HEAD_HOLIDAY">An Owl's Head Holiday</a></span></td><td align="right">243</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap;"><a href="#A_MONTHS_MUSIC">A Month's Music</a></span></td><td align="right">277</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<hr /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="ON_BOSTON_COMMON" id="ON_BOSTON_COMMON"></a>ON BOSTON COMMON.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Nuns fret not at their convent's narrow room;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And hermits are contented with their cells;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And students with their pensive citadels:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Maids at the wheel, the weaver at his loom,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sit blithe and happy; bees that soar for bloom,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">High as the highest Peak of Furness-fells,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Will murmur by the hour in foxglove bells:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In truth, the prison unto which we doom<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ourselves, no prison is: and hence for me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In sundry moods 't was pastime to be bound<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Within the Sonnet's scanty plot of ground;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pleased if some Souls (for such there needs must be)<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who have felt the weight of too much liberty,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Should find brief solace there, as I have found.<br /></span> +<span class="signature">Wordsworth.</span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> +<p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">ON BOSTON COMMON.</p> + + +<p>Our Common and Garden are not an ideal +field of operations for the student of birds. No +doubt they are rather straitened and public. +Other things being equal, a modest ornithologist +would prefer a place where he could stand +still and look up without becoming himself a +gazing-stock. But "it is not in man that walketh +to direct his steps;" and if we are appointed +to take our daily exercise in a city park, +we shall very likely find its narrow limits not +destitute of some partial compensations. This, +at least, may be depended upon,—our disappointments +will be on the right side of the account; +we shall see more than we have anticipated +rather than less, and so our pleasures will, +as it were, come to us double. I recall, for example, +the heightened interest with which I beheld +my first Boston cat-bird; standing on the +back of one of the seats in the Garden, steadying +himself with oscillations of his tail,—a conveniently +long balance-pole,—while he peeped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +curiously down into a geranium bed, within the +leafy seclusion of which he presently disappeared. +He was nothing but a cat-bird; if I +had seen him in the country I should have +passed him by without a second glance; but +here, at the base of the Everett statue, he +looked, somehow, like a bird of another feather. +Since then, it is true, I have learned that his occasional +presence with us in the season of the +semi-annual migration is not a matter for astonishment. +At that time, however, I was happily +more ignorant; and therefore, as I say, my +pleasure was twofold,—the pleasure, that is, of +the bird's society and of the surprise.</p> + +<p>There are plenty of people, I am aware, who +assert that there are no longer any native birds +in our city grounds,—or, at the most, only a +few robins. Formerly things were different, +they have heard, but now the abominable English +sparrows monopolize every nook and corner. +These wise persons speak with an air of positiveness, +and doubtless ought to know whereof +they affirm. Hath not a Bostonian eyes? And +doth he not cross the Common every day? But +it is proverbially hard to prove a negative; and +some of us, with no thought of being cynical, +have ceased to put unqualified trust in other +people's eyesight,—especially since we have +found our own to fall a little short of absolute<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +infallibility. My own vision, by the way, is +reasonably good, if I may say so; at any rate I +am not stone-blind. Yet here have I been perambulating +the Public Garden for an indefinite +period, without seeing the first trace of a field-mouse +or a shrew. I should have been in excellent +company had I begun long ago to maintain +that no such animals exist within our precincts. +But the other day a butcher-bird made +us a flying call, and almost the first thing he did +was to catch one of these same furry dainties +and spit it upon a thorn, where anon I found +him devouring it. I would not appear to +boast; but really, when I saw what Collurio +had done, it did not so much as occur to me to +quarrel with him because he had discovered in +half an hour what I had overlooked for ten +years. On the contrary I hastened to pay him +a heart-felt compliment upon his indisputable +sagacity and keenness as a natural historian;—a +measure of magnanimity easily enough afforded, +since however the shrike might excel me +at one point, there could be no question on the +whole of my immeasurable superiority. And I +cherish the hope that my fellow townsmen, who, +as they insist, never themselves see any birds +whatever in the Garden and Common (their attention +being taken up with matters more important), +may be disposed to exercise a similar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +forbearance toward me, when I modestly profess +that within the last seven or eight years I have +watched there some thousands of specimens, +representing not far from seventy species.</p> + +<p>Of course the principal part of all the birds to +be found in such a place are transient visitors +merely. In the long spring and autumn journeys +it will all the time be happening that +more or less of the travelers alight here for rest +and refreshment. Now it is only a straggler +or two; now a considerable flock of some one +species; and now a miscellaneous collection of +perhaps a dozen sorts.</p> + +<p>One of the first things to strike the observer +is the uniformity with which such pilgrims arrive +during the night. He goes his rounds late in +the afternoon, and there is, no sign of anything +unusual; but the next morning the grounds are +populous,—thrushes, finches, warblers, and +what not. And as they come in the dark, so +also do they go away again. With rare exceptions +you may follow them up never so closely, +and they will do nothing more than fly from +tree to tree, or out of one clump of shrubbery +into another. Once in a great while, under +some special provocation, they threaten a longer +flight; but on getting high enough to see the +unbroken array of roofs, on every side they +speedily grow confused, and after a few shift<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>ings +of their course dive hurriedly into the nearest +tree. It was a mistake their stopping here +in the first place; but once here, there is nothing +for it save to put up with the discomforts of +the situation till after sunset. Then, please +heaven, they will be off, praying never to find +themselves again in such a Babel.</p> + +<p>That most of our smaller birds migrate by +night is by this time too well established to +need corroboration; but if the student wishes +to assure himself of the fact at first hand, he +may easily do it by one or two seasons' observations +in our Common,—or, I suppose, in any +like inclosure. And if he be blest with an ornithologically +educated ear, he may still further +confirm his faith by standing on Beacon Hill in +the evening—as I myself have often done—and +listening to the <i>chips</i> of warblers, or the +<i>tseeps</i> of sparrows, as these little wanderers, +hour after hour, pass through the darkness over +the city. Why the birds follow this plan, what +advantages they gain or what perils they avoid +by making their flight nocturnal, is a question +with which our inquisitive friend will perhaps +find greater difficulty. I should be glad, for +one, to hear his explanation.</p> + +<p>As a rule, our visitors tarry with us for two or +three days; at least I have noticed that to be +true in many cases where their numbers, or size,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +or rarity made it possible to be reasonably certain +when the arrival and departure took place; +and in so very limited a field it is of course +comparatively easy to keep track of the same individual +during his stay, and, so to speak, become +acquainted with him. I remember with +interest several such acquaintanceships.</p> + +<p>One of these was with a yellow-bellied woodpecker, +the first I had ever seen. He made his +appearance one morning in October, along with +a company of chickadees and other birds, and +at once took up his quarters on a maple-tree +near the Ether monument. I watched his +movements for some time, and at noon, happening +to be in the same place again, found +him still there. And there he remained four +days. I went to look at him several times +daily, and almost always found him either on +the maple or on a tulip tree a few yards distant. +Without question the sweetness of maple +sap was known to <i>Sphyropicus varius</i> long before +our human ancestors discovered it, and this +particular bird, to judge from his actions, must +have been a genuine connoisseur; at all events +he seemed to recognize our Boston tree as of a +sort not to be met with every day, although +to my less critical sense it was nothing but an +ordinary specimen of the common <i>Acer dasycarpum</i>. +He was extremely industrious, as is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +the custom of his family, and paid no attention +to the children playing about, or to the men +who sat under his tree, with the back of their +seat resting against the trunk. As for the +children's noise, he likely enough enjoyed it; +for he is a noisy fellow himself and famous as +a drummer. An aged clergyman in Washington +told me—in accents half pathetic, half revengeful—that +at a certain time of the year +he could scarcely read his Bible on Sunday +mornings, because of the racket which this +woodpecker made hammering on the tin roof +overhead.</p> + +<p>Another of my acquaintances was of a very +different type, a female Maryland yellow-throat. +This lovely creature, a most exquisite, dainty +bit of bird flesh, was in the Garden all by herself +on the 6th of October, when the great majority +of her relatives must have been already +well on their way toward the sunny South. +She appeared to be perfectly contented, and +allowed me to watch her closely, only scolding +mildly now and then when I became too inquisitive. +How I did admire her bravery and +peace of mind; feeding so quietly, with that +long, lonesome journey before her, and the cold +weather coming on! No wonder the Great +Teacher pointed his lesson of trust with the +injunction, "Behold the fowls of the air."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> + +<p>A passenger even worse belated than this +warbler was a chipping sparrow that I found +hopping about the edge of the Beacon Street +Mall on the 6th of December, seven or eight +weeks after all chippers were supposed to be +south of Mason and Dixon's line. Some accident +had detained him doubtless; but he +showed no signs of worry or haste, as I walked +round him, scrutinizing every feather, lest he +should be some tree sparrow traveling in disguise.</p> + +<p>There is not much to attract birds to the +Common in the winter, since we offer them +neither evergreens for shelter nor weed patches +for a granary. I said to one of the gardeners +that I thought it a pity, on this account, that +some of the plants, especially the zinnias and +marigolds, were not left to go to seed. A little +untidiness, in so good a cause, could hardly +be taken amiss by even the most fastidious taxpayer. +He replied that it would be of no use; +we hadn't any birds now, and we shouldn't +have any so long as the English sparrows were +here to drive them away. But it would be of +use, notwithstanding; and certainly it would +afford a pleasure to many people to see flocks +of goldfinches, red-poll linnets, tree sparrows, +and possibly of the beautiful snow buntings, +feeding in the Garden in midwinter.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> + +<p>Even as things are, however, the cold season +is sure to bring us a few butcher-birds. These +come on business, and are now welcomed as +public benefactors, though formerly our sparrow-loving +municipal authorities thought it +their duty to shoot them. They travel singly, +as a rule, and sometimes the same bird will be +here for several weeks together. Then you will +have no trouble about finding here and there +in the hawthorn trees pleasing evidences of his +activity and address. Collurio is brought up +to be in love with his work. In his Mother +Goose it is written,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Fe, fi, fo, farrow!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I smell the blood of an English sparrow;<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and however long he may live, he never forgets +his early training. His days, as the poet +says, are "bound each to each by natural +piety." Happy lot! wherein duty and conscience +go ever hand in hand; for whose possessor</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">"Love is an unerring light,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And joy its own security."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In appearance the shrike resembles the mocking-bird. +Indeed, a policeman whom I found +staring at one would have it that he <i>was</i> a +mocking-bird. "Don't you <i>see</i> he is? And +he's been singing, too." I had nothing to say +against the singing, since the shrike will often<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +twitter by the half hour in the very coldest +weather. But further discussion concerning +the bird's identity was soon rendered needless; +for, while we were talking, along came a sparrow, +and dropped carelessly into a hawthorn +bush, right under the shrike's perch. The latter +was all attention instantly, and, after waiting +till the sparrow had moved a little out of +the thick of the branches, down he pounced. +He missed his aim, or the sparrow was too +quick for him, and although he made a second +swoop, and followed that by a hot chase, he +speedily came back without his prey. This little +exertion, however, seemed to have provoked +his appetite; for, instead of resuming his coffee-tree +perch, he went into the hawthorn, and +began to feed upon the carcass of a bird which, +it seemed, he had previously laid up in store. +He was soon frightened off for a few moments +by the approach of a third man, and the policeman +improved the opportunity to visit the bush +and bring away his breakfast. When the fellow +returned and found his table empty, he did +not manifest the slightest disappointment (the +shrike never does; he is a fatalist, I think); +but in order to see what he would do, the policeman +tossed the body to him. It lodged on +one of the outer twigs, and immediately the +shrike came for it; at the same time spread<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>ing +his beautifully bordered tail and screaming +loudly. Whether these demonstrations were intended +to express delight, or anger, or contempt, +I could not judge; but he seized the body, carried +it back to its old place, drove it again upon +the thorn, and proceeded to devour it more +voraciously than ever, scattering the feathers +about in a lively way as he tore it to pieces. +The third man, who had never before seen such +a thing, stepped up within reach of the bush, +and eyed the performance at his leisure, the +shrike not deigning to mind him in the least. +A few mornings later the same bird gave me +another and more amusing exhibition of his +nonchalance. He was singing from the top of +our one small larch-tree, and I had stopped +near the bridge to look and listen, when a milkman +entered at the Commonwealth Avenue +gate, both hands full of cans, and, without noticing +the shrike, walked straight under the +tree. Just then, however, he heard the notes +overhead, and, looking up, saw the bird. As +if not knowing what to make of the creature's +assurance, he stared at him for a moment, and +then, putting down his load, he seized the trunk +with both hands, and gave it a good shake. +But the bird only took a fresh hold; and when +the man let go, and stepped back to look up, +there he sat, to all appearance as unconcerned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +as if nothing had happened. Not to be so +easily beaten, the man grasped the trunk again, +and shook it harder than before; and this time +Collurio seemed to think the joke had been +carried far enough, for he took wing, and flew +to another part of the Garden. The bravado +of the butcher-bird is great, but it is not unlimited. +I saw him, one day, shuffling along a +branch in a very nervous, unshrikely fashion, +and was at a loss to account for his unusual demeanor +till I caught sight of a low-flying hawk +sweeping over the tree. Every creature, no +matter how brave, has some other creature to +be afraid of; otherwise, how would the world +get on?</p> + +<p>The advent of spring is usually announced +during the first week of March, sometimes by +the robins, sometimes by the bluebirds. The +latter, it should be remarked, are an exception +to the rule that our spring and autumn callers +arrive and depart in the night. My impression +is that their migrations are ordinarily accomplished +by daylight. At all events I have often +seen them enter the Common, alight for a few +minutes, and then start off again; while I have +never known them to settle down for a visit of +two or three days, in the manner of most other +species. This last peculiarity may be owing to +the fact that the European sparrows treat them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +with even more than their customary measure +of incivility, till the poor wayfarers have literally +no rest for the soles of their feet. They +breed by choice in just such miniature meeting-houses +as our city fathers have provided so +plentifully for their foreign <i>protégés</i>; and probably +the latter, being aware of this, feel it necessary +to discourage at the outset any idea +which these blue-coated American interlopers +may have begun to entertain of settling in Boston +for the summer.</p> + +<p>The robins may be said to be abundant with +us for more than half the year; but they are +especially numerous for a month or two early +in the season. I have counted more than thirty +feeding at once in the lower half of the parade +ground, and at nightfall have seen forty at +roost in one tree, with half as many more in +the tree adjoining. They grow extremely noisy +about sunset, filling the air with songs, cackles, +and screams, till even the most stolid citizen +pauses a moment to look up at the authors of so +much clamor.</p> + +<p>By the middle of March the song sparrows +begin to appear, and for a month after this they +furnish delightful music daily. I have heard +them caroling with all cheerfulness in the midst +of a driving snow-storm. The dear little optimists! +They never doubt that the sun is on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +their side. Of necessity they go elsewhere to +find nests for themselves, where they may lay +their young; for they build on the ground, and +a lawn which is mowed every two or three days +would be quite out of the question.</p> + +<p>At the best, a public park is not a favorable +spot in which to study bird music. Species +that spend the summer here, like the robin, +the warbling vireo, the red-eyed vireo, the +chipper, the goldfinch, and the Baltimore oriole, +of course sing freely; but the much larger +number which merely drop in upon us by the +way are busy feeding during their brief sojourn, +and besides are kept in a state of greater or +less excitement by the frequent approach of +passers-by. Nevertheless, I once heard a bobolink +sing in our Garden (the only one I ever +saw there), and once a brown thrush, although +neither was sufficiently at home to do himself +justice. The "Peabody" song of the white-throated +sparrows is to be heard occasionally +during both migrations. It is the more welcome +in such a place, because, to my ears at +least, it is one of the wildest of all bird notes; +it is among the last to be heard at night in the +White Mountain woods, as well as one of the +last to die away beneath you as you climb the +higher peaks. On the Crawford bridle path, +for instance, I remember that the song of this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +bird and that of the gray-cheeked thrush<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> were +heard all along the ridge from Mount Clinton +to Mount Washington. The finest bird concert +I ever attended in Boston was given on +Monument Hill by a great chorus of fox-colored +sparrows, one morning in April. A high +wind had been blowing during the night, and +the moment I entered the Common I discovered +that there had been an extraordinary arrival of +birds, of various species. The parade ground +was full of snow-birds, while the hill was covered +with fox-sparrows,—hundreds of them, I +thought, and many of them in full song. It +was a royal concert, but the audience, I am +sorry to say, was small. It is unfortunate, in +some aspects of the case, that birds have never +learned that a <i>matinée</i> ought to begin at two +o'clock in the afternoon.</p> + +<p>These sparrows please me by their lordly +treatment of their European cousins. One in +particular, who was holding his ground against +three of the Britishers, moved me almost to the +point of giving him three cheers.</p> + +<p>Of late a few crow blackbirds have taken to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +building their nests in one corner of our domain; +and they attract at least their full share +of attention, as they strut about the lawns in +their glossy clerical suits. One of the gardeners +tells me that they sometimes kill the sparrows. +I hope they do. The crow blackbird's +attempts at song are ludicrous in the extreme, +as every note is cracked, and is accompanied by +a ridiculous caudal gesture. But he is ranked +among the oscines, and seems to know it; and, +after all, it is only the common fault of singers +not to be able to detect their own want of tunefulness.</p> + +<p>I was once crossing the Common, in the middle +of the day, when I was suddenly arrested +by the call of a cuckoo. At the same instant +two men passed me, and I heard one say to the +other, "Hear that cuckoo! Do you know what +it means? No? Well, <i>I</i> know what it means: +it means that it's going to rain." It did rain, +although not for a number of days, I believe. +But probably the cuckoo has adopted the modern +method of predicting the weather some time +in advance. Not very long afterwards I again +heard this same note on the Common; but it +was several years before I was able to put the +cuckoo into my Boston list, as a bird actually +seen. Indeed it is not so very easy to see him +anywhere; for he makes a practice of robbing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +the nests of smaller birds, and is always skulking +about from one tree to another, as though +he were afraid of being discovered, as no doubt +he is. What Wordsworth wrote of the European +species (allowance being made for a +proper degree of poetic license) is equally applicable +to ours:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"No bird, but an invisible thing,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A voice, a mystery."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>When I did finally get a sight of the fellow it +was on this wise. As I entered the Garden, +one morning in September, a goldfinch was +calling so persistently and with such anxious +emphasis from the large sophora tree that I +turned my steps that way to ascertain what +could be the trouble. I took the voice for a +young bird's, but found instead a male adult, +who was twitching his tail nervously and scolding +<i>phee-phee</i>, <i>phee-phee</i>, at a black-billed +cuckoo perched near at hand, in his usual +sneaking attitude. The goldfinch called and +called, till my patience was nearly spent. +(Small birds know better than to attack a big +one so long as the latter is at rest.) Then, at +last, the cuckoo started off, the finch after him, +and a few minutes later I saw the same flight +and chase repeated. Several other goldfinches +were flying about in the neighborhood, but +only this one was in the least excited. Doubt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>less +he had special reasons of his own for dreading +the presence of this cowardly foe.</p> + +<p>One of our regular visitors twice a year is the +brown creeper. He is so small and silent, and +withal his color is so like that of the bark to +which he clings, that I suspect he is seldom noticed +even by persons who pass within a few +feet of him. But he is not too small to be hectored +by the sparrows, and I have before now +been amused at the encounter. The sparrow +catches sight of the creeper, and at once bears +down upon him, when the creeper darts to the +other side of the tree, and alights again a little +further up. The sparrow is after him; but, as +he comes dashing round the trunk, he always +seems to expect to find the creeper perched upon +some twig, as any other bird would be, and it +is only after a little reconnoitring that he again +discovers him clinging to the vertical bole. +Then he makes another onset with a similar result; +and these manoeœuvres are repeated, till the +creeper becomes disgusted, and takes to another +tree.</p> + +<p>The olive-backed thrushes and the hermits +may be looked for every spring and autumn, +and I have known forty or fifty of the former to +be present at once. The hermits most often +travel singly or in pairs, though a small flock is +not so very uncommon. Both species preserve<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +absolute silence while here; I have watched +hundreds of them, without hearing so much as +an alarm note. They are far from being pugnacious, +but their sense of personal dignity is +large, and once in a while, when the sparrows +pester them beyond endurance, they assume the +offensive with much spirit. There are none of +our feathered guests whom I am gladder to see; +the sight of them inevitably fills me with remembrances +of happy vacation seasons among +the hills of New Hampshire. If only they +would sing on the Common as they do in those +northern woods! The whole city would come +out to hear them.</p> + +<p>During every migration large numbers of +warblers visit us. I have noted the golden-crowned +thrush, the small-billed water-thrush, +the black-and-white creeper, the Maryland yellow-throat, +the blue yellow-back, the black-throated +green, the black-throated blue, the yellow-rump, +the summer yellow-bird, the black-poll, +the Canada flycatcher, and the redstart. +No doubt the list is far from complete, as, of +course, I have not used either glass or gun; and +without one or other of these aids the observer +must be content to let many of these small, tree-top-haunting +birds pass unidentified. The two +kinglets give us a call occasionally, and in the +late summer and early autumn the humming-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>birds +spend several weeks about our flower-beds.</p> + +<p>It would be hard for the latter to find a more +agreeable stopping-place in the whole course of +their southward journey. What could they ask +better than beds of tuberoses, Japanese lilies, +<i>Nicotiana</i> (against the use of which they manifest +not the slightest scruple), petunias, and the +like? Having in mind the Duke of Argyll's +assertion that "no bird can ever fly backwards,"<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> +I have more than once watched these humming-birds +at their work on purpose to see whether +they would respect the noble Scotchman's dictum. +I am compelled to report that they appeared +never to have heard of his theory. At +any rate they very plainly did fly tail foremost; +and that not only in <i>dropping</i> from a blossom,—in +which case the seeming flight might have +been, as the duke maintains, an optical illusion +merely,—but even while backing out of the +flower-tube in an upward direction. They are +commendably catholic in their tastes. I saw +one exploring the disk of a sunflower, in company +with a splendid monarch butterfly. Possibly +he knew that the sunflower was just then +in fashion. Only a few minutes earlier the same +bird—or another like him—had chased an +English sparrow out of the Garden, across Ar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>lington +Street, and up to the very roof of a +House, to the great delight of at least one patriotic +Yankee. At another time I saw one of +these tiny beauties making his morning toilet +in a very pretty fashion, leaning forward, and +brushing first one cheek and then the other +against the wet rose leaf on which he was +perched.</p> + +<p>The only swallows on my list are the barn +swallows and the white-breasted. The former, +as they go hawking about the crowded streets, +must often send the thoughts of rich city merchants +back to the big barns of their grandfathers, +far off in out-of-the-way country places. +Of course we have the chimney swifts, also +(near relatives of the humming-birds!), but +they are not swallows.</p> + +<p>Speaking of the swallows, I am reminded of a +hawk that came to Boston, one morning, fully +determined not to go away without a taste of +the famous imported sparrows. It is nothing +unusual for hawks to be seen flying over the +city, but I had never before known one actually +to make the Public Garden his hunting-ground. +This bird perched for a while on the Arlington +Street fence, within a few feet of a passing carriage; +next he was on the ground, peering into +a bed of rhododendrons; then for a long time +he sat still in a tree, while numbers of men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +walked back and forth underneath; between +whiles he sailed about, on the watch for his +prey. On one of these last occasions a little +company of swallows came along, and one of +them immediately went out of his way to swoop +down upon the hawk, and deal him a dab. +Then, as he rejoined his companions, I heard +him give a little chuckle, as though he said, +"There! did you see me peck at him? You +don't think I am afraid of such a fellow as that, +do you?" To speak in Thoreau's manner, I +rejoiced in the incident as a fresh illustration of +the ascendency of spirit over matter.</p> + +<p>One is always glad to find a familiar bird +playing a new <i>rôle</i>, and especially in such a +spot as the Common, where, at the best, one +can hope to see so very little. It may be assumed, +therefore, that I felt peculiarly grateful +to a white-bellied nuthatch, when I discovered +him bopping about on the ground—on Monument +Hill; a piece of humility such as I had +never before detected any nuthatch in the practice +of. Indeed, this fellow looked so unlike +himself, moving briskly through the grass with +long, awkward leaps, that at first sight I failed +to recognize him. He was occupied with turning +over the dry leaves, one after another,—hunting +for cocoons, or things of that sort, I +suppose. Twice he found what he was in search<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +of; but instead of handling the leaf on the +ground, he flew with it to the trunk of an elm, +wedged it into a crevice of the bark, and proceeded +to hammer it sharply with his beak. +Great is the power of habit! Strange—is it +not?—that any bird should find it easiest to +do such work while clinging to a perpendicular +surface! Yes; but how does it look to a dog, +I wonder, that men can walk better on their hind +legs than on all fours? Everything is a miracle +from somebody's point of view. The sparrows +were inclined to make game of my obliging +little performer; but he would have none +of their insolence, and repelled every approach +in dashing style. In exactly three weeks from +this time, and on the same hillside, I came upon +another nuthatch similarly employed; but before +this one had turned up a leaf to his mind, +the sparrows became literally too many for him, +and he took flight,—to my no small disappointment.</p> + +<p>It would be unfair not to name others of my +city guests, even though I have nothing in particular +to record concerning them. The Wilson +thrush and the red-bellied nuthatch I have seen +once or twice each. The chewink is more constant +in his visits, as is also the golden-winged +woodpecker. Our familiar little downy woodpecker, +on the other hand, has thus far kept<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +out of my catalogue. No other bird's absence +has surprised me so much; and it is the more +remarkable because the comparatively rare yellow-bellied +species is to be met with nearly +every season. Cedar-birds show themselves irregularly. +One March morning, when the +ground was covered with snow, a flock of perhaps +a hundred collected in one of the taller +maples in the Garden, till the tree looked from +a distance like an autumn hickory, its leafless +branches still thickly dotted with nuts. Four +days afterward, what seemed to be the same +company made their appearance in the Common. +Of the flycatchers, I have noted the +kingbird, the least flycatcher, and the phœbe. +The two former stay to breed. Twice in the +fall I have found a kingfisher about the Frog +Pond. Once the fellow sprung his watchman's +rattle. He was perhaps my most unexpected +caller, and for a minute or so I was not entirely +sure whether indeed I was in Boston or +not. The blue jay and the crow know too +much to be caught in such a place, although +one may often enough see the latter passing +overhead. Every now and then, in the traveling +season, a stray sandpiper or two will be observed +teetering round the edge of the Common +and Garden ponds; and one day, when the latter +was drained, I saw quite a flock of some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +one of the smaller species feeding over its bottom. +Very picturesque they were, feeding and +flying in close order. Besides these must be +mentioned the yellow-throated vireo, the bay-winged +bunting, the swamp sparrow, the field +sparrow, the purple finch, the red-poll linnet, +the savanna sparrow, the tree sparrow, the +night-hawk (whose celebrated tumbling trick +may often be witnessed by evening strollers in +the Garden), the woodcock (I found the body +of one which had evidently met its death against +the electric wire), and among the best of all, +the chickadees, who sometimes make the whole +autumn cheerful with their presence, but about +whom I say nothing here because I have said so +much elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Of fugitive cage-birds, I recall only five—all +in the Garden. One of these, feeding tamely +in the path, I suspected for an English robin +but he was not in full plumage, and my conjecture +may have been incorrect. Another was a +diminutive finch, dressed in a suit of red, blue, +and green. He sat in a bush, saying <i>No, no!</i> +to a feline admirer who was making love to him +earnestly. The others were a mocking-bird, a +cardinal grosbeak, and a paroquet. The mocking-bird +and the grosbeak might possibly have +been wild, had the question been one of latitude +simply, but their demeanor satisfied me to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +the contrary. The former's awkward attempt +at alighting on the tip of a fence-picket seemed +evidence enough that he had not been long at +large. The paroquet was a splendid creature, +with a brilliant orange throat darkly spotted. +He flew from tree to tree, chattering gayly, and +had a really pretty song. Evidently he was in +the best of spirits, notwithstanding the rather +obtrusive attentions of a crowd of house sparrows, +who appeared to look upon such a wearer +of the green as badly out of place in this new +England of theirs. But for all his vivacity, I +feared he would not be long in coming to grief. +If he escaped other perils, the cold weather +must soon overtake him, for it was now the +middle of September, and his last state would +be worse than his first. He had better have +kept his cage; unless, indeed, he was one of +the nobler spirits that prefer death to slavery.</p> + +<p>Of all the birds thus far named, very few +seemed to attract the attention of anybody +except myself. But there remains one other, +whom I have reserved for the last, not because +he was in himself the noblest or the most interesting +(though he was perhaps the biggest), +but because, unlike the rest, he did succeed in +winning the notice of the multitude. In fact, +my one owl, to speak theatrically, made a decided +hit; for a single afternoon he may be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +said to have been famous,—or at all events +notorious, if any old-fashioned reader be disposed +to insist upon this all but obsolete distinction. +His triumph, such as it was, had already +begun when I first discovered him, for he +was then perched well up in an elm, while a +mob of perhaps forty men and boys were pelting +him with sticks and stones. Even in the +dim light of a cloudy November afternoon he +seemed quite bewildered and helpless, making +no attempt to escape, although the missiles were +flying past him on all sides. The most he did +was to shift his perch when he was hit, which, +to be sure, happened pretty often. Once he +was struck so hard that he came tumbling toward +the ground, and I began to think it was +all over with him; but when about half-way +down he recovered himself, and by dint of painful +flappings succeeded in alighting just out of +the reach of the crowd. At once there were +loud cries: "Don't kill him! Don't kill him!" +and while the scamps were debating what to do +next, he regained his breath, and flew up into +the tree again, as high as before. Then the +stoning began anew. For my part I pitied the +fellow sincerely, and wished him well out of +the hands of his tormentors; but I found myself +laughing with the rest to see him turn his +head and stare, with his big, vacant eyes, after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +a stone which had just whizzed by his ear. +Everybody that came along stopped for a few +minutes to witness the sport, and Beacon Street +filled up with carriages till it looked as if some +holiday procession were halted in front of the +State House. I left the crowd still at their +work, and must do them the justice to say that +some of them were excellent marksmen. An +old negro, who stood near me, was bewailing +the law against shooting; else, he said, he +would go home and get his gun. He described, +with appropriate gestures, how very easily he +could fetch the bird down. Perhaps he afterwards +plucked up courage to violate the statute. +At any rate the next morning's newspapers +reported that an owl had been shot, the +day before, on the Common. Poor bird of wisdom! +His sudden popularity proved to be the +death of him. Like many of loftier name he +found it true,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The path of glory leads but to the grave."</span> +</div></div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> My identification of <i>Turdus Aliciæ</i> was based entirely upon +the song, and so, of course, had no final scientific value. It was +confirmed a few weeks later, however, by Mr. William Brewster, +who took specimens. (See <i>Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological +Club</i>, January, 1883, p. 12.) Prior to this the species was not +known to breed in New England.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <i>The Reign of Law</i>, p. 140.</p></div> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="BIRD-SONGS" id="BIRD-SONGS"></a>BIRD-SONGS.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Canst thou imagine where those spirits live<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which make such delicate music in the woods?<br /></span> +<span class="signature">Shelley.</span> +</div></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>BIRD-SONGS.</p> + + +<p>Why do birds sing? Has their music a meaning, +or is it all a matter of blind impulse? Some +bright morning in March, as you go out-of-doors, +you are greeted by the notes of the first robin. +Perched in a leafless tree, there he sits, facing +the sun like a genuine fire-worshiper, and singing +as though he would pour out his very soul. +What is he thinking about? What spirit possesses +him?</p> + +<p>It is easy to ask questions until the simplest +matter comes to seem, what at bottom it really +is, a thing altogether mysterious; but if our robin +could understand us, he would, likely enough, +reply:—</p> + +<p>"Why do you talk in this way, as if it were +something requiring explanation that a bird +should sing? You seem to have forgotten that +everybody sings, or almost everybody. Think +of the insects,—the bees and the crickets and +the locusts, to say nothing of your intimate +friends, the mosquitoes! Think, too, of the frogs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +and the hylas! If these cold-blooded, low-lived +creatures, after sleeping all winter in the mud,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> +are free to make so much use of their voices, +surely a bird of the air may sing his unobtrusive +song without being cross-examined concerning +the purpose of it. Why do the mice sing, and +the monkeys, and the woodchucks? Indeed, +sir,—if one may be so bold,—why do you sing, +yourself?"</p> + +<p>This matter-of-fact Darwinism need not +frighten us. It will do us no harm to remember, +now and then, "the hole of the pit whence we +were digged;" and besides, as far as any relationship +between us and the birds is concerned, +it is doubtful whether we are the party to complain.</p> + +<p>But avoiding "genealogies and contentions," +and taking up the question with which we began, +we may safely say that birds sing, sometimes +to gratify an innate love for sweet sounds; +sometimes to win a mate, or to tell their love +to a mate already won; sometimes as practice, +with a view to self-improvement; and sometimes +for no better reason than the poet's,—"I +do but sing because I must." In general, they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +sing for joy; and their joy, of course, has various +causes.</p> + +<p>For one thing, they are very sensitive to the +weather. With them, as with us, sunlight and +a genial warmth go to produce serenity. A +bright summer-like day, late in October, or even +in November, will set the smaller birds to singing, +and the grouse to drumming. I heard a +robin venturing a little song on the 25th of last +December; but that, for aught I know, was a +Christmas carol. No matter what the season, +you will not hear a great deal of bird music during +a high wind; and if you are caught in the +woods by a sudden shower in May or June, and +are not too much taken up with thoughts of +your own condition, you will hardly fail to notice +the instant silence which falls upon the +woods with the rain. Birds, however, are more +or less inconsistent (that is, a part of their likeness +to us), and sometimes sing most freely +when the sky is overcast.</p> + +<p>But their highest joys are by no means dependent +upon the moods of the weather. A +comfortable state of mind is not to be contemned, +but beings who are capable of deep and passionate +affection recognize a difference between comfort +and ecstasy. And the peculiar glory of +birds is just here, in the all-consuming fervor +of their love. It would be commonplace to call<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +them models of conjugal and parental faithfulness. +With a few exceptions (and these, it is a +pleasure to add, not singers), the very least of +them is literally faithful unto death. Here and +there, in the notes of some collector, we are told +of a difficulty he has had in securing a coveted +specimen: the tiny creature, whose mate had +been already "collected," would persist in hovering +so closely about the invader's head that it +was impossible to shoot him without spoiling +him for the cabinet by blowing him to pieces!</p> + +<p>Need there be any mystery about the singing +of such a lover? Is it surprising if at times +he is so enraptured that he can no longer sit +tamely on the branch, but must dart into the +air, and go circling round and round, caroling +as he flies?</p> + +<p>So far as song is the voice of emotion, it will +of necessity vary with the emotion; and every +one who has ears must have heard once in a +while bird music of quite unusual fervor. For +example, I have often seen the least flycatcher +(a very unromantic-looking body, surely) when +he was almost beside himself; flying in a circle, +and repeating breathlessly his emphatic <i>chebec</i>. +And once I found a wood pewee in a somewhat +similar mood. He was more quiet than the +least flycatcher; but he too sang on the wing, +and I have never heard notes which seemed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +more expressive of happiness. Many of them +were entirely new and strange, although the +familiar <i>pewee</i> was introduced among the rest. +As I listened, I felt it to be an occasion for +thankfulness that the delighted creature had +never studied anatomy, and did not know that +the structure of his throat made it improper for +him to sing. In this connection, also, I recall +a cardinal grosbeak, whom I heard several +years ago, on the bank of the Potomac River. +An old soldier had taken me to visit the Great +Falls, and as we were clambering over the rocks +this grosbeak began to sing; and soon, without +any hint from me, and without knowing who +the invisible musician was, my companion remarked +upon the uncommon beauty of the song. +The cardinal is always a great singer, having a +voice which, as European writers say, is almost +equal to the nightingale's; but in this case the +more stirring, martial quality of the strain had +given place to an exquisite mellowness, as if it +were, what I have no doubt it was, a song of +love.</p> + +<p>Every kind of bird has notes of its own, so that +a thoroughly practiced ear would be able to discriminate +the different species with nearly as +much certainty as Professor Baird would feel +after an examination of the anatomy and plumage. +Still this strong specific resemblance is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +far from being a dead uniformity. Aside from +the fact, already mentioned, that the characteristic +strain is sometimes given with extraordinary +sweetness and emphasis, there are often to +be detected variations of a more formal character. +This is noticeably true of robins. It may +almost be said that no two of them sing alike; +while now and then their vagaries are conspicuous +enough to attract general attention. One +who was my neighbor last year interjected into +his song a series of four or five most exact imitations +of the peep of a chicken. When I first +heard this performance, I was in company with +two friends, both of whom noticed and laughed +at it; and some days afterwards I visited the +spot again, and found the bird still rehearsing +the same ridiculous medley. I conjectured that +he had been brought up near a hen-coop, and, +moreover, had been so unfortunate as to lose +his father before his notes had become thoroughly +fixed; and then, being compelled to +finish his musical education by himself, had +taken a fancy to practice these chicken calls. +This guess may not have been correct. All I +can affirm is that he sang exactly as he might +have been expected to do, on that supposition; +but certainly the resemblance seemed too close +to be accidental.</p> + +<p>The variations of the wood thrush are fully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +as striking as those of the robin, and sometimes +it is impossible not to feel that the artist is +making a deliberate effort to do something out +of the ordinary course, something better than +he has ever done before. Now and then he +prefaces his proper song with many disconnected, +extremely <i>staccato</i> notes, following each +other at very distant and unexpected intervals +of pitch. It is this, I conclude, which is meant +by some writer (who it is I cannot now remember) +when he criticises the wood thrush for +spending too much time in tuning his instrument. +But the fault is the critic's, I think; to +my ear these preliminaries sound rather like +the recitative which goes before the grand <i>aria</i>.</p> + +<p>Still another musician who delights to take +liberties with his score is the towhee bunting, +or chewink. Indeed, he carries the matter so +far that sometimes it seems almost as if he +suspected the proximity of some self-conceited +ornithologist, and were determined, if possible, +to make a fool of him. And for my part, being +neither self conceited nor an ornithologist, I am +willing to confess that I have once or twice +been so badly deceived that now the mere sight +of this <i>Pipilo</i> is, so to speak, a means of grace +to me.</p> + +<p>One more of these innovators (these heretics, +as they are most likely called by their more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +conservative brethren) is the field sparrow, better +known as <i>Spizella pusilla</i>. His usual song +consists of a simple line of notes, beginning leisurely, +but growing shorter and more rapid to +the close. The voice is so smooth and sweet, +and the acceleration so well managed, that, although +the whole is commonly a strict monotone, +the effect is not in the least monotonous. +This song I once heard rendered in reverse order, +with a result so strange that I did not suspect +the identity of the author till I had crept +up within sight of him. Another of these sparrows, +who has passed the last two seasons in +my neighborhood, habitually doubles the measure; +going through it in the usual way, and +then, just as you expect him to conclude, catching +it up again, <i>Da capo</i>.</p> + +<p>But birds like these are quite outdone by +such species as the song sparrow, the white-eyed +vireo, and the Western meadow-lark,—species +of which we may say that each individual +bird has a whole repertory of songs at his +command. The song sparrow, who is the best +known of the three, will repeat one melody +perhaps a dozen times, then change it for a +second, and in turn leave that for a third; as if +he were singing hymns of twelve or fifteen +stanzas each, and set each hymn to its appropriate +tune. It is something well worth listen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>ing +to, common though it is, and may easily +suggest a number of questions about the origin +and meaning of bird music.</p> + +<p>The white-eyed vireo is a singer of astonishing +spirit, and his sudden changes from one +theme to another are sometimes almost startling. +He is a skillful ventriloquist, also, and I +remember one in particular who outwitted me +completely. He was rehearsing a well-known +strain, but at the end there came up from the +bushes underneath a querulous call. At first I +took it for granted that some other bird was in +the underbrush; but the note was repeated too +many times, and came in too exactly on the beat.</p> + +<p>I have no personal acquaintance with the +Western meadow-lark, but no less than twenty-six +of his songs have been printed in musical +notation, and these are said to be by no means +all.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>Others of our birds have similar gifts, though +no others, so far as I know, are quite so versatile +as these three. Several of the warblers, +for example, have attained to more than one +set song, notwithstanding the deservedly small +reputation of this misnamed family. I have +myself heard the golden-crowned thrush, the +black-throated green warbler, the black-throated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +blue, the yellow-rumped, and the chestnut-sided, +sing two melodies each, while the blue golden-winged +has at least three; and this, of course, +without making anything of slight variations +such as all birds are more or less accustomed to +indulge in. The best of the three songs of the +blue golden-wing I have never heard except on +one occasion, but then it was repeated for half +an hour under my very eyes. It bore no resemblance +to the common <i>dsee</i>, <i>dsee</i>, <i>dsee</i>, of +the species, and would appear to be seldom +used; for not only have I never heard it since, +but none of the writers seem ever to have +heard it at all. However, I still keep a careful +description of it, which I took down on the +spot, and which I expect some future golden-wing +to verify.</p> + +<p>But the most celebrated of the warblers in +this regard is the golden-crowned thrush, otherwise +called the oven-bird and the wood wagtail. +His ordinary effort is one of the noisiest, least +melodious, and most incessant sounds to be +heard in our woods. His <i>song</i> is another matter. +For that he takes to the air (usually starting +from a tree-top, although I have seen him +rise from the ground), whence, after a preliminary +<i>chip</i>, <i>chip</i>, he lets fall a hurried flood of +notes, in the midst of which can usually be distinguished +his familiar <i>weechee</i>, <i>weechee</i>, <i>wee<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>chee</i>. +It is nothing wonderful that he should +sing on the wing,—many other birds do the +same, and very much better than he; but he is +singular in that he strictly reserves his aerial +music for late in the afternoon. I have heard +it as early as three o'clock, but never before +that, and it is most common about sunset. +Writers speak of it as limited to the season of +courtship; but I have heard it almost daily till +near the end of July, and once, for my special +benefit, perhaps, it was given in full—and repeated—on +the first day of September. But +who taught the little creature to do this,—to +sing one song in the forenoon, perched upon a +twig, and to keep another for afternoon, singing +that invariably on the wing? and what difference +is there between the two in the mind +of the singer?<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<p>It is an indiscretion ever to say of a bird +that he has only such and such notes. You +may have been his friend for years, but the +next time you go into the woods he will likely +enough put you to shame by singing something +not so much as hinted at in your description. +I thought I knew the song of the yellow-rumped +warbler, having listened to it many times,—a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +slight and rather characterless thing, nowise +remarkable. But coming down Mount Willard +one day in June, I heard a warbler's song which +brought me to a sudden halt. It was new and +beautiful,—more beautiful, it seemed at the +moment, than any warbler's song I had ever +heard. What could it be? A little patient +waiting (while the black-flies and mosquitoes +"came upon me to eat up my flesh"), and the +wonderful stranger appeared in full view,—my +old acquaintance, the yellow-rumped warbler.</p> + +<p>With all this strong tendency on the part of +birds to vary their music, how is it that there +is still such a degree of uniformity, so that, as +we have said, every species may be recognized +by its notes? Why does every red-eyed vireo +sing in one way, and every white-eyed vireo in +another? Who teaches the young chipper to +trill, and the young linnet to warble? In short, +how do birds come by their music? Is it all a +matter of instinct, inherited habit, or do they +learn it? The answer appears to be that birds +sing as children talk, by simple imitation. Nobody +imagines that the infant is born with a +language printed upon his brain. The father +and mother may never have known a word of +any tongue except the English, but if the child +is brought up to hear only Chinese, he will +infallibly speak that, and nothing else. And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +careful experiments have shown the same to be +true of birds.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> Taken from the nest just after +they leave the shell, they invariably sing, not +their own so-called natural song, but the song +of their foster-parents; provided, of course, +that this is not anything beyond their physical +capacity. The notorious house sparrow (our +"English" sparrow), in his wild or semi-domesticated +state, never makes a musical sound; but +if he is taken in hand early enough, he may be +taught to sing, so it is said, nearly as well as +the canary. Bechstein relates that a Paris +clergyman had two of these sparrows whom he +had trained to speak, and, among other things, +to recite several of the shorter commandments; +and the narrative goes on to say that it was +sometimes very comical, when the pair were +disputing over their food, to hear one gravely +admonish the other, "Thou shalt not steal!" +It would be interesting to know why creatures +thus gifted do not sing of their own motion. +With their amiability and sweet peaceableness +they ought to be caroling the whole year +round.</p> + +<p>This question of the transmission of songs +from one generation to another is, of course, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +part of the general subject of animal intelligence, +a subject much discussed in these days +on account of its bearing upon the modern doctrine +concerning the relation of man to the inferior +orders.</p> + +<p>We have nothing to do with such a theme, +but it may not be out of place to suggest to +preachers and moralists that here is a striking +and unhackneyed illustration of the force of +early training. Birds sing by imitation, it is +true, but as a rule they imitate only the notes +which they hear during the first few weeks +after they are hatched. One of Mr. Barrington's +linnets, for example, after being educated +under a titlark, was put into a room with two +birds of his own species, where he heard them +sing freely every day for three months. He +made no attempt to learn anything from them, +however, but kept on practicing what the titlark +had taught him, quite unconscious of anything +singular or unpatriotic in such a course. +This law, that impressions received during the +immaturity of the powers become the unalterable +habit of the after life, is perhaps the most +momentous of all the laws in whose power we +find ourselves. Sometimes we are tempted to +call it cruel. But if it were annulled, this +would be a strange world. What a hurly-hurly +we should have among the birds! There<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +would be no more telling them by their notes. +Thrushes and jays, wrens and chickadees, +finches and warblers, all would be singing one +grand medley.</p> + +<p>Between these two opposing tendencies, one +urging to variation, the other to permanence +(for Nature herself is half radical, half conservative), +the language of birds has grown +from rude beginnings to its present beautiful +diversity; and whoever lives a century of millenniums +hence will listen to music such as we +in this day can only dream of. Inappreciably +but ceaselessly the work goes on. Here and +there is born a master-singer, a feathered genius, +and every generation makes its own addition +to the glorious inheritance.</p> + +<p>It may be doubted whether there is any real +connection between moral character and the +possession of wings. Nevertheless there has +long been a popular feeling that some such congruity +does exist; and certainly it seems unreasonable +to suppose that creatures who are able +to soar at will into the heavens should be without +other equally angelic attributes. But, be +that as it may, our friends, the birds, do undeniably +set us a good example in several respects. +To mention only one, how becoming is +their observance of morning and evening song! +In spite of their industrious spirit (and few of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +us labor more hours daily), neither their first +nor their last thoughts are given to the question, +What shall we eat, and what shall we +drink? Possibly their habit of saluting the +rising and setting sun may be thought to favor +the theory that the worship of the god of day +was the original religion. I know nothing +about that. But it would be a sad change if +the birds, declining from their present beautiful +custom, were to sleep and work, work and +sleep, with no holy hour between, as is too +much the case with the being who, according +to his own pharisaic notion, is the only religious +animal.</p> + +<p>In the season, however, the woods are by no +means silent, even at noonday. Many species +(such as the vireos and warblers, who get their +living amid the foliage of trees) sing as they +work; while the thrushes and others, who keep +business and pleasure more distinct, are often +too happy to go many hours together without a +hymn. I have even seen robins singing without +quitting the turf; but that is rather unusual, for +somehow birds have come to feel that they must +get away from the ground when the lyrical mood +is upon them. This may be a thing of sentiment +(for is not language full of uncomplimentary +allusions to earth and earthliness?), but more +likely it is prudential. The gift of song is no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +doubt a dangerous blessing to creatures who +have so many enemies, and we can readily believe +that they have found it safer to be up +where they can look about them while thus +publishing their whereabouts.</p> + +<p>A very interesting exception to this rule is +the savanna sparrow, who sings habitually from +the ground. But even he shares the common +feeling, and stretches himself to his full height +with an earnestness which is almost laughable, +in view of the result; for his notes are +hardly louder than a cricket's chirp. Probably +he has fallen into this lowly habit from living +in meadows and salt marshes, where bushes +and trees are not readily to be come at; and +it is worth noticing that, in the case of the +skylark and the white-winged blackbird, the +same conditions have led to a result precisely +opposite. The sparrow, we may presume, was +originally of a humble disposition, and when +nothing better offered itself for a singing-perch +easily grew accustomed to standing upon a +stone or a little lump of earth; and this practice, +long persisted in, naturally had the effect +to lessen the loudness of his voice. The skylark, +on the other hand, when he did not readily +find a tree-top, said to himself, "Never +mind! I have a pair of wings." And so the +lark is famous, while the sparrow remains un<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>heard-of, +and is even mistaken for a grasshopper.</p> + +<p>How true it is that the very things which +dishearten one nature and break it down, only +help another to find out what it was made for! +If you would foretell the development, either +of a bird or of a man, it is not enough to know +his environment, you must know also what +there is in him.</p> + +<p>We have possibly made too much of the savanna +sparrow's innocent eccentricity. He fills +his place, and fills it well; and who knows but +that he may yet outshine the skylark? There +is a promise, I believe, for those who humble +themselves. But what shall be said of species +which do not even try to sing, and that, notwithstanding +they have all the structural peculiarities +of singing birds, and must, almost certainly, +have come from ancestors who were +singers? We have already mentioned the +house sparrow, whose defect is the more mysterious +on account of his belonging to so highly +musical a family. But <i>he</i> was never accused of +not being noisy enough, while we have one +bird who, though he is classed with the oscines, +passes his life in almost unbroken silence. Of +course I refer to the waxwing, or cedar-bird, +whose faint, sibilant whisper can scarcely be +thought to contradict the foregoing description.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +By what strange freak he has lapsed into this +ghostly habit, nobody knows. I make no account +of the insinuation that he gave up music +because it hindered his success in cherry-stealing. +He likes cherries, it is true; and who can +blame him? But he would need to work hard +to steal more than does that indefatigable songster, +the robin. I feel sure he has some better +reason than this for his Quakerish conduct. +But, however he came by his stillness, it is +likely that by this time he plumes himself upon +it. Silence is golden, he thinks, the supreme +result of the highest æsthetic culture. Those +loud creatures, the thrushes and finches! What +a vulgar set they are, to be sure, the more's +the pity! Certainly if he does not reason in +some such way, bird nature is not so human as +we have given it credit for being. Besides, +the waxwing has an uncommon appreciation +of the decorous; at least, we must think so +if we are able to credit a story of Nuttall's. +He declares that a Boston gentleman, whose +name he gives, saw one of a company of these +birds capture an insect, and offer it to his neighbor; +he, however, delicately declined the dainty +bit, and it was offered to the next, who, in +turn, was equally polite; and the morsel actually +passed back and forth along the line, till, +finally, one of the flock was persuaded to eat it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +I have never seen anything equal to this; but +one day, happening to stop under a low cedar, +I discovered right over my head a waxwing's +nest with the mother-bird sitting upon it, while +her mate was perched beside her on the branch. +He was barely out of my reach, but he did not +move a muscle; and although he uttered no +sound, his behavior said as plainly as possible, +"What do you expect to do <i>here</i>? Don't you +see <i>I</i> am standing guard over this nest?" I +should be ashamed not to be able to add that I +respected his dignity and courage, and left him +and his castle unmolested.</p> + +<p>Observations so discursive as these can hardly +be finished; they must break off abruptly, or +else go on forever. Let us make an end, therefore, +with expressing our hope that the cedar-bird, +already so handsome and chivalrous, will +yet take to himself a song; one sweet and original, +worthy to go with his soft satin coat, his +ornaments of sealing-wax, and his magnificent +top-knot. Let him do that, and he shall always +be made welcome; yes, even though he +come in force and in cherry-time.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> There is no Historic-Genealogical Society among the birds, +and the robin is not aware that his own remote ancestors were reptiles. +If he were, he would hardly speak so disrespectfully of +these batrachians.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Mr. C. N. Allen, in <i>Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological +Club</i>, July, 1881.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Since this paper was written I have three times heard the wood +wagtail's true song in the morning,—but in neither case was the +bird in the air. <a href="#Page_284">See p. 284.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> See the paper of Daines Barrington in <i>Philosophical Transactions</i> +for 1773; also, Darwin's <i>Descent of Man</i>, and Wallace's +<i>Natural Selection</i>.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHARACTER_IN_FEATHERS" id="CHARACTER_IN_FEATHERS"></a>CHARACTER IN FEATHERS.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The finger of God hath left an inscription upon all his works, +not graphical or composed of letters, but of their several forms, +constitutions, parts, and operations, which, aptly joined together, +do make one word that doth express their natures. By these letters +God calls the stars by their names; and by this alphabet +Adam assigned to every creature a name peculiar to its nature.<br /> + +<span class="signature">Sir Thomas Browne.</span></p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>CHARACTER IN FEATHERS.</p> + + +<p>In this economically governed world the same +thing serves many uses. Who will take upon +himself to enumerate the offices of sunlight, or +water, or indeed of any object whatever? Because +we know it to be good for this or that, it +by no means follows that we have discovered +what it was made for. What we have found +out is perhaps only something by the way; as +if a man should think the sun were created for +his own private convenience. In some moods +it seems doubtful whether we are yet acquainted +with the real value of anything. But, be that +as it may, we need not scruple to admire so +much as our ignorance permits us to see of the +workings of this divine frugality. The piece of +woodland, for instance, which skirts the village,—how +various are its ministries to the inhabitants, +each of whom, without forethought or +question, takes the benefit proper to himself! +The poet saunters there as in a true Holy Land, +to have his heart cooled and stilled. Mr. A.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +and Mr. B., who hold the deeds of the "property," +walk through it to look at the timber, +with an eye to dollars and cents. The botanist +has his errand there, the zoölogist his, and the +child his. Oftenest of all, perhaps (for barbarism +dies hard, and even yet the ministers of +Christ find it a capital sport to murder small +fishes),—oftenest of all comes the man, poor +soul, who thinks of the forest as of a place to +which he may go when he wishes to amuse himself +by killing something. Meanwhile, the rabbits +and the squirrels, the hawks and the owls, +look upon all such persons as no better than intruders +(do not the woods belong to those who +live in them?); while nobody remembers the +meteorologist, who nevertheless smiles in his +sleeve at all these one-sided notions, and says to +himself that he knows the truth of the matter.</p> + +<p>So is it with everything; and with all the +rest, so is it with the birds. The interest they +excite is of all grades, from that which looks +upon them as items of millinery, up to that of +the makers of ornithological systems, who ransack +the world for specimens, and who have no +doubt that the chief end of a bird is to be named +and catalogued,—the more synonyms the better. +Somewhere between these two extremes +comes the person whose interest in birds is +friendly rather than scientific; who has little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +taste for shooting, and an aversion from dissecting; +who delights in the living creatures themselves, +and counts a bird in the bush worth two +in the hand. Such a person, if he is intelligent, +makes good use of the best works on ornithology; +he would not know how to get along without +them; but he studies most the birds themselves, +and after a while he begins to associate +them on a plan of his own. Not that he distrusts +the approximate correctness of the received +classification, or ceases to find it of daily +service; but though it were as accurate as the +multiplication table, it is based (and rightly, no +doubt) on anatomical structure alone; it rates +birds as bodies, and nothing else: while to the +person of whom we are speaking birds are, first +of all, souls; his interest in them is, as we say, +personal; and we are none of us in the habit of +grouping our friends according to height, or +complexion, or any other physical peculiarity.</p> + +<p>But it is not proposed in this paper to attempt +a new classification of any sort, even the most +unscientific and fanciful. All I am to do is to +set down at random a few studies in such a +method as I have indicated; in short, a few +studies in the temperaments of birds. Nor, in +making this attempt, am I unmindful how elusive +of analysis traits of character are, and how +diverse is the impression which the same per<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>sonality +produces upon different observers. In +matters of this kind every judgment is largely +a question of emphasis and proportion; and, +moreover, what we find in our friends depends +in great part on what we have in ourselves. +This I do not forget; and therefore I foresee +that others will discover in the birds of whom I +write many things that I miss, and perhaps will +miss some things which I have treated as patent +or even conspicuous. It remains only for each +to testify what he has seen, and at the end to +confess that a soul, even the soul of a bird, is +after all a mystery.</p> + +<p>Let our first example, then, be the common +black-capped titmouse, or chickadee. He is, <i>par +excellence</i>, the bird of the merry heart. There +is a notion current, to be sure, that all birds are +merry; but that is one of those second-hand +opinions which a man who begins to observe for +himself soon finds it necessary to give up. +With many birds life is a hard struggle. Enemies +are numerous, and the food supply is too +often scanty. Of some species it is probable +that very few die in their beds. But the chickadee +seems to be exempt from all forebodings. +His coat is thick, his heart is brave, and, whatever +may happen, something will be found to +eat. "Take no thought for the morrow" is his +creed, which he accepts, not "for substance of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +doctrine," but literally. No matter how bitter +the wind or how deep the snow, you will never +find the chickadee, as the saying is, under the +weather. It is this perennial good humor, I suppose, +which makes other birds so fond of his +companionship; and their example might well +be heeded by persons who suffer from fits of depression. +Such unfortunates could hardly do +better than to court the society of the joyous tit. +His whistles and chirps, his graceful feats of +climbing and hanging, and withal his engaging +familiarity (for, of course, such good-nature as +his could not consist with suspiciousness) would +most likely send them home in a more Christian +mood. The time will come, we may hope, +when doctors will prescribe bird-gazing instead +of blue-pill.</p> + +<p>To illustrate the chickadee's trustfulness, I +may mention that a friend of mine captured one +in a butterfly-net, and, carrying him into the +house, let him loose in the sitting-room. The +little stranger was at home immediately, and +seeing the window full of plants, proceeded to +go over them carefully, picking off the lice with +which such window-gardens are always more or +less infested. A little later he was taken into +my friend's lap, and soon he climbed up to his +shoulder; where, after hopping about for a few +minutes on his coat-collar, he selected a com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>fortable +roosting place, tucked his head under +his wing, and went to sleep, and slept on undisturbed +while carried from one room to another. +Probably the chickadee's nature is not +of the deepest. I have never seen him when +his joy rose to ecstasy. Still his feelings are not +shallow, and the faithfulness of the pair to each +other and to their offspring is of the highest +order. The female has sometimes to be taken +off the nest, and even to be held in the hand, +before the eggs can be examined.</p> + +<p>Our American goldfinch is one of the loveliest +of birds. With his elegant plumage, his rhythmical, +undulatory flight, his beautiful song, and +his more beautiful soul, he ought to be one of +the best beloved, if not one of the most famous; +but he has never yet had half his deserts. He +is like the chickadee, and yet different. He is +not so extremely confiding, nor should I call him +merry. But he is always cheerful, in spite of +his so-called plaintive note, from which he gets +one of his names, and always amiable. So far +as I know, he never utters a harsh sound; even +the young ones, asking for food, use only smooth, +musical tones. During the pairing season his +delight often becomes rapturous. To see him +then, hovering and singing,—or, better still, to +see the devoted pair hovering together, billing +and singing,—is enough to do even a cynic good.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +The happy lovers! They have never read it in +a book, but it is written on their hearts,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The gentle law, that each should be<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The other's heaven and harmony."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The goldfinch has the advantage of the titmouse +in several respects, but he lacks that sprightliness, +that exceeding light-heartedness, which +is the chickadee's most endearing characteristic.</p> + +<p>For the sake of a strong contrast, we may +look next at the brown thrush, known to farmers +as the planting-bird and to ornithologists +as <i>Harporhynchus rufus</i>; a staid and solemn +Puritan, whose creed is the Preacher's,—"Vanity +of vanities, all is vanity." No frivolity and +merry-making for him! After his brief annual +period of intensely passionate song, he does penance +for the remainder of the year,—skulking +about, on the ground or near it, silent and +gloomy. He seems ever on the watch against +an enemy, and, unfortunately for his comfort, he +has nothing of the reckless, bandit spirit, such +as the jay possesses, which goes to make a moderate +degree of danger almost a pastime. Not +that he is without courage; when his nest is in +question he will take great risks; but in general +his manner is dispirited, "sicklied o'er with the +pale cast of thought." Evidently he feels</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The heavy and the weary weight<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of all this unintelligible world;"<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> +<p>and it would not be surprising if he sometimes +raised the question, "Is life worth living?" It +is the worst feature of his case that his melancholy +is not of the sort which softens and refines +the nature. There is no suggestion of +saintliness about it. In fact, I am convinced +that this long-tailed thrush has a constitutional +taint of vulgarity. His stealthy, underhand +manner is one mark of this, and the same thing +comes out again in his music. Full of passion +as his singing is (and we have hardly anything +to compare with it in this regard), yet the listener +cannot help smiling now and then; the +very finest passage is followed so suddenly by +some uncouth guttural note, or by some whimsical +drop from the top to the bottom of the +scale.</p> + +<p>In neighborly association with the brown +thrush is the towhee bunting, or chewink. The +two choose the same places for their summer +homes, and, unless I am deceived, they often +migrate in company. But though they are so +much together, and in certain of their ways +very much alike, their habits of mind are widely +dissimilar. The towhee is of a peculiarly even +disposition. I have seldom heard him scold, or +use any note less good-natured and musical than +his pleasant <i>cherawink</i>. I have never detected +him in a quarrel such as nearly all birds are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +once in a while guilty of, ungracious as it may +seem to mention the fact; nor have I ever seen +him hopping nervously about and twitching his +tail, as is the manner of most species, when, for +instance, their nests are approached. Nothing +seems to annoy him. At the same time, he is +not full of continual merriment like the chickadee, +nor occasionally in a rapture like the goldfinch. +Life with him is pitched in a low key; +comfortable rather than cheerful, and never +jubilant. And yet, for all the towhee's careless +demeanor, you soon begin to suspect him of +being deep. He appears not to mind you; he +keeps on scratching among the dry leaves as if +he had no thought of being driven away by +your presence; but in a minute or two you look +that way again, and he is not there. If you +pass near his nest, he makes not a tenth part of +the ado which a brown thrush would make in +the same circumstances, but (partly for this +reason) you will find half a dozen nests of the +thrush sooner than one of his. With all his +simplicity and frankness, which puts him in +happy contrast with the thrush, he knows as +well as anybody how to keep his own counsel. +I have seen him with his mate for two or three +days together about the flower-beds in the Boston +Public Garden, and so far as appeared they +were feeding as unconcernedly as though they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +had been on their own native heath, amid the +scrub-oaks and huckleberry bushes; but after +their departure it was remembered that they +had not once been heard to utter a sound. If +self-possession be four fifths of good manners, +our red-eyed Pipilo may certainly pass for a +gentleman.</p> + +<p>We have now named four birds, the chickadee, +the goldfinch, the brown thrush, and the towhee,—birds +so diverse in plumage that no +eye could fail to discriminate them at a glance. +But the four differ no more truly in bodily shape +and dress than they do in that inscrutable something +which we call temperament, disposition. +If the soul of each were separated from the body +and made to stand out in sight, those of us who +have really known the birds in the flesh would +have no difficulty in saying, This is the titmouse, +and this the towhee. It would be with them as +we hope it will be with our friends in the next +world, whom we shall recognize there because +we knew them here; that is, we knew <i>them</i>, +and not merely the bodies they lived in. This +kind of familiarity with birds has no necessary +connection with ornithology. Personal intimacy +and a knowledge of anatomy are still two +different things. As we have all heard, ours +is an age of science; but, thank fortune, matters +have not yet gone so far that a man must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +take a course in anthropology before he can +love his neighbor.</p> + +<p>It is a truth only too patent that taste and +conscience are sometimes at odds. One man +wears his faults so gracefully that we can hardly +help falling in love with them, while another, +alas, makes even virtue itself repulsive. I am +moved to this commonplace reflection by thinking +of the blue jay, a bird of doubtful character, +but one for whom, nevertheless, it is impossible +not to feel a sort of affection and even of respect. +He is quite as suspicious as the brown +thrush, and his instinct for an invisible perch is +perhaps as unerring as the cuckoo's; and yet, +even when he takes to hiding, his manner is +not without a dash of boldness. He has a most +irascible temper, also, but, unlike the thrasher, +he does not allow his ill-humor to degenerate +into chronic sulkiness. Instead, he flies into a +furious passion, and is done with it. Some say +that on such occasions he swears, and I have +myself seen him when it was plain that nothing +except a natural impossibility kept him from +tearing his hair. His larynx would make him +a singer, and his mental capacity is far above +the average; but he has perverted his gifts, till +his music is nothing but noise and his talent +nothing but smartness. A like process of depravation +the world has before now witnessed in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +political life, when a man of brilliant natural +endowments has yielded to low ambitions and +stooped to unworthy means, till what was +meant to be a statesman turns put to be a demagogue. +But perhaps we wrong our handsome +friend, fallen angel though he be, to speak thus +of him. Most likely he would resent the comparison, +and I do not press it. We must admit +that juvenile sportsmen have persecuted him +unduly; and when a creature cannot show himself +without being shot at, he may be pardoned +for a little misanthropy. Christians as we are, +how many of us could stand such a test? In +these circumstances, it is a point in the jay's +favor that he still has, what is rare with birds, +a sense of humor, albeit it is humor of a rather +grim sort,—the sort which expends itself in +practical jokes and uncivil epithets. He has +discovered the school-boy's secret: that for the +expression of unadulterated derision there is +nothing like the short sound of <i>a</i>, prolonged +into a drawl. <i>Yăh</i>, <i>yăh</i>, he cries; and sometimes, +as you enter the woods, you may hear +him shouting so as to be heard for half a mile, +"Here comes a fool with a gun; look out for +him!"</p> + +<p>It is natural to think of the shrike in connection +with the jay, but the two have points of +unlikeness no less than of resemblance. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +shrike is a taciturn bird. If he were a politician, +he would rely chiefly on what is known +as the "still hunt," although he too can scream +loudly enough on occasion. His most salient +trait is his impudence, but even that is of a +negative type. "Who are you," he says, +"that I should be at the trouble to insult +you?" He has made a study of the value of +silence as an indication of contempt, and is almost +human in his ability to stare straight by +a person whose presence it suits him to ignore. +His imperturbability is wonderful. Watch +him as closely as you please, you will never +discover what he is thinking about. Undertake, +for instance, now that the fellow is singing +from the top of a small tree only a few rods +from where you are standing,—undertake to +settle the long dispute whether his notes are +designed to decoy small birds within his reach. +Those whistles and twitters,—hear them! So +miscellaneous! so different from anything which +would be expected from a bird of his size and +general disposition! so very like the notes of +sparrows! They must be imitative. You begin +to feel quite sure of it. But just at this +point the sounds cease, and you look up to discover +that Collurio has fallen to preening his +feathers in the most listless manner imaginable. +"Look at me," he says; "do I act like one on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +the watch for his prey? Indeed, sir, I wish +the innocent sparrows no harm; and besides, +if you must know it, I ate an excellent game-breakfast +two hours ago, while laggards like +you were still abed." In the winter, which is +the only season when I have been able to observe +him, the shrike is to the last degree unsocial, +and I have known him to stay for a +month in one spot all by himself, spending a +good part of every day perched upon a telegraph +wire. He ought not to be very happy, +with such a disposition, one would think; but +he seems to be well contented, and sometimes +his spirits are fairly exuberant. Perhaps, as +the phrase is, he enjoys <i>himself</i>; in which case +he certainly has the advantage of most of us,—unless, +indeed, we are easily pleased. At +any rate, he is philosopher enough to appreciate +the value of having few wants; and I am +not sure but that he anticipated the vaunted +discovery of Teufelsdröckh, that the fraction of +life may be increased by lessening the denominator. +But even the stoical shrike is not without +his epicurean weakness. When he has +killed a sparrow, he eats the brains first; after +that, if he is still hungry, he devours the coarser +and less savory parts. In this, however, he +only shares the well-nigh universal inconsistency. +There are never many thorough-going<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +stoics in the world. Epictetus declared with an +oath that he should be glad to see <i>one</i>.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> To +take everything as equally good, to know no +difference between bitter and sweet, penury and +plenty, slander and praise,—this is a great +attainment, a Nirvana to which few can hope +to arrive. Some wise man has said (and the +remark has more meaning than may at once +appear) that dying is usually one of the last +things which men do in this world.</p> + +<p>Against the foil of the butcher-bird's stolidity +we may set the inquisitive, garrulous temperament +of the white-eyed vireo and the yellow-breasted +chat. The vireo is hardly larger +than the goldfinch, but let him be in one of his +conversational moods, and he will fill a smilax +thicket with noise enough for two or three cat-birds. +Meanwhile he keeps his eye upon you, +and seems to be inviting your attention to his +loquacious abilities. The chat is perhaps even +more voluble. <i>Staccato</i> whistles and snarls +follow each other at most extraordinary intervals +of pitch, and the attempt at showing off is +sometimes unmistakable. Occasionally he takes +to the air, and flies from one tree to another; +teetering his body and jerking his tail, in an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +indescribable fashion, and chattering all the +while. His "inner consciousness" at such a +moment would be worth perusing. Possibly +he has some feeling for the grotesque. But I +suspect not; probably what we laugh at as the +antics of a clown is all sober earnest to him.</p> + +<p>At best, it is very little we can know about +what is passing in a bird's mind. We label +him with two or three <i>sesquipedalia verba</i>, give +his territorial range, describe his notes and his +habits of nidification, and fancy we have rendered +an account of the bird. But how should +we like to be inventoried in such a style? +"His name was John Smith; he lived in Boston, +in a three-story brick house; he had a baritone voice, +but was not a good singer." All +true enough; but do you call that a man's biography?</p> + +<p>The four birds last spoken of are all wanting +in refinement. The jay and the shrike are +wild and rough, not to say barbarous, while the +white-eyed vireo and the chat have the character +which commonly goes by the name of oddity. +All four are interesting for their strong +individuality and their picturesqueness, but it +is a pleasure to turn from them to creatures +like our four common New England <i>Hylocichlæ</i>, +or small thrushes. These are the real patricians. +With their modest but rich dress,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +and their dignified, quiet demeanor, they stand +for the true aristocratic spirit. Like all genuine +aristocrats, they carry an air of distinction, +of which no one who approaches them can long +remain unconscious. When you go into their +haunts they do not appear so much frightened +as offended. "Why do you intrude?" they +seem to say; "these are our woods;" and they +bow you out with all ceremony. Their songs +are in keeping with this character; leisurely, +unambitious, and brief, but in beauty of voice +and in high musical quality excelling all other +music of the woods. However, I would not +exaggerate, and I have not found even these +thrushes perfect. The hermit, who is my favorite +of the four, has a habit of slowly raising +and depressing his tail when his mind is disturbed—a +trick of which it is likely he is unconscious, +but which, to say the least, is not a +mark of good breeding; and the Wilson, while +every note of his song breathes of spirituality, +has nevertheless a most vulgar alarm call, a +petulant, nasal, one-syllabled <i>yeork</i>. I do not +know anything so grave against the wood +thrush or the Swainson; although when I have +fooled the former with decoy whistles, I have +found him more inquisitive than seemed altogether +becoming to a bird of his quality. But +character without flaw is hardly to be insisted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +on by sons of Adam, and, after all deductions +are made, the claim of the <i>Hylocichlæ</i> to noble +blood can never be seriously disputed. I have +spoken of the four together, but each is clearly +distinguished from all the others; and this I +believe to be as true of mental traits as it is of +details of plumage and song. No doubt, in +general, they are much alike; we may say that +they have the same qualities; but a close acquaintance +will reveal that the qualities have +been mixed in different proportions, so that the +total result in each case is a personality strictly +unique.</p> + +<p>And what is true of the <i>Hylocichlæ</i> is true +of every bird that flies. Anatomy and dress +and even voice aside, who does not feel the dissimilarity +between the cat-bird and the robin, +and still more the difference, amounting to contrast, +between the cat-bird and the bluebird? +Distinctions of color and form are what first +strike the eye, but on better acquaintance these +are felt to be superficial and comparatively unimportant; +<i>the</i> difference is not one of outside +appearance. It is his gentle, high-bred manner +and not his azure coat, which makes the bluebird; +and the cat-bird would be a cat-bird in +no matter what garb, so long as he retained his +obtrusive self-consciousness and his prying, +busy-body spirit; all of which, being inter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>preted, +comes, it may be, to no more than this, +"Fine feathers don't make fine birds."</p> + +<p>Even in families containing many closely +allied species, I believe that every species has +its own proper character, which sufficient intercourse +would enable us to make a due report +of. Nobody ever saw a song-sparrow manifesting +the spirit of a chipper, and I trust it will not +be in my day that any of our American sparrows +are found emulating the virtues of their +obstreperous immigrant cousin. Of course it is +true of birds, as of men, that some have much +more individuality than others. But know any +bird or any man well enough, and he will prove +to be himself, and nobody else. To know the +ten thousand birds of the world well enough to +see how, in bodily structure, habit of life, and +mental characteristics, every one is different +from every other is the long and delightful task +which is set before the ornithologist.</p> + +<p>But this is not all. The ornithology of the +future must be ready to give an answer to the +further question how these divergences of anatomy +and temperament originated. How came +the chickadee by his endless fund of happy +spirits? Whence did the towhee derive his +equanimity, and the brown thrush his saturnine +temper? The waxwing and the vireo have the +same vocal organs; why should the first do<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +nothing but whisper, while the second is so +loud and voluble? Why is one bird belligerent +and another peaceable; one barbarous and another +civilized; one grave and another gay? +Who can tell? We can make here and there a +plausible conjecture. We know that the behavior +of the blue jay varies greatly in different +parts of the country, in consequence of the different +treatment which he receives. We judge +that the chickadee, from the peculiarity of his +feeding habits, is more certain than most birds +are of finding a meal whenever he is hungry; +and that, we are assured from experience, goes +a long way toward making a body contented. +We think it likely that the brown thrush is at +some special disadvantage in this respect, or has +some peculiar enemies warring upon him; in +which case it is no more than we might expect +that he should be a pessimist. And, with all +our ignorance, we are yet sure that everything +has a cause, and we would fain hold by the +brave word of Emerson, "Undoubtedly we +have no questions to ask which are unanswerable."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> This does not harmonize exactly with a statement which Emerson +makes somewhere, to the effect that all the stoics were stoics +indeed. But Epictetus had never lived in Concord.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="IN_THE_WHITE_MOUNTAINS" id="IN_THE_WHITE_MOUNTAINS"></a>IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Our music's in the hills.<br /></span> +<span class="signature_2">Emerson.</span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS.</p> + + +<p>It was early in June when I set out for my +third visit to the White Mountains, and the +ticket-seller and the baggage-master in turn assured +me that the Crawford House, which I +named as my destination, was not yet open. +They spoke, too, in the tone which men use +when they mention something which, but for +uncommon stupidity, you would have known +beforehand. The kindly sarcasm missed its +mark, however. I was aware that the hotel +was not yet ready for the "general public." +But I said to myself that, for once at least, I +was not to be included in that unfashionably +promiscuous company. The vulgar crowd must +wait, of course. For the present the mountains, +in reporters' language, were "on private view;" +and despite the ignorance of railway officials, I +was one of the elect. In plainer phrase, I had +in my pocket a letter from the manager of the +famous inn before mentioned, in which he promised +to do what he could for my entertainment,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +even though he was not yet, as he said, keeping +a hotel.</p> + +<p>Possibly I made too much of a small matter; +but it pleased me to feel that this visit of mine +was to be of a peculiarly intimate character,—almost, +indeed, as if Mount Washington himself +had bidden me to private audience.</p> + +<p>Compelled to wait three or four hours in +North Conway, I improved the opportunity to +stroll once more down into the lovely Saco +meadows, whose "green felicity" was just now +at its height. Here, perched upon a fence-rail, +in the shadow of an elm, I gazed at the snow-crowned +Mount Washington range, while the +bobolinks and savanna sparrows made music on +every side. The song of the bobolinks dropped +from above, and the microphonic tune of the +sparrows came up from the grass,—sky and +earth keeping holiday together. Almost I +could have believed myself in Eden. But, +alas, even the birds themselves were long since +shut out of that garden of innocence, and as I +started back toward the village a crow went +hurrying past me, with a kingbird in hot pursuit. +The latter was more fortunate than usual, +or more plucky; actually alighting on the +crow's back and riding for some distance. I +could not distinguish his motions,—he was too +far away for that,—but I wished him joy of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +his victory, and grace to improve it to the full. +For it is scandalous that a bird of the crow's +cloth should be a thief; and so, although I +reckon him among my friends,—in truth, <i>because</i> +I do so,—I am always able to take it +patiently when I see him chastised for his fault. +Imperfect as we all know each other to be, it is +a comfort to feel that few of us are so altogether +bad as not to take more or less pleasure +in seeing a neighbor's character improved under +a course of moderately painful discipline.</p> + +<p>At Bartlett word came that the passenger +car would go no further, but that a freight +train would soon start, on which, if I chose, I +could continue my journey. Accordingly, I +rode up through the Notch on a platform car,—a +mode of conveyance which I can heartily +and in all good conscience recommend. There +is no crowd of exclaiming tourists, the train of +necessity moves slowly, and the open platform +offers no obstruction to the view. For a time +I had a seat, which after a little two strangers +ventured to occupy with me; for "it's an ill +wind that blows nobody good," and there happened +to be on the car one piece of baggage,—a +coffin, inclosed in a pine box. Our sitting +upon it could not harm either it or us; nor did +we wean any disrespect to the man, whoever +he might be, whose body was to be buried in it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +Judging the dead charitably, as in duty bound, +I had no doubt he would have been glad if he +could have seen his "narrow house" put to +such a use. So we made ourselves comfortable +with it, until, at an invisible station, it was +taken off. Then we were obliged to stand, or +to retreat into a miserable small box-car behind +us. The platform would lurch a little now and +then, and I, for one, was not experienced as a +"train hand;" but we all kept our places till +the Frankenstein trestle was reached. Here, +where for five hundred feet we could look down +upon the jagged rocks eighty feet below us, +one of the trio suddenly had an errand into the +box-car aforesaid, leaving the platform to the +other stranger and me. All in all, the ride +through the Notch had never before been so +enjoyable, I thought; and late in the evening +I found myself once again at the Crawford +House, and in one of the best rooms,—as well +enough I might be, being the only guest in the +house.</p> + +<p>The next morning, before it was really light, +I was lying awake looking at Mount Webster, +while through the open window came the loud, +cheery song of the white-throated sparrows. +The hospitable creatures seemed to be inviting +me to come at once into their woods; but I +knew only too well that, if the invitation were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +accepted, they would every one of them take +to hiding like bashful children.</p> + +<p>The white-throat is one of the birds for +whom I cherish a special liking. On my first +trip to the mountains I jumped off the train for +a moment at Bartlett, and had hardly touched +the ground before I heard his familiar call. +Here, then, was Mr. Peabody at home. Season +after season he had camped near me in Massachusetts, +and many a time I had been gladdened +by his lively serenade; now he greeted me from +his own native woods. So far as my observations +have gone, he is common throughout the +mountain region; and that in spite of the +standard guide-book, which puts him down as +patronizing the Glen House almost exclusively. +He knows the routes too well to need any guide, +however, and may be excused for his ignorance +of the official programme. It is wonderful how +shy he is,—the more wonderful, because, during +his migrations, his manner is so very different. +Then, even in a city park you may watch +him at your leisure, while his loud, clear whistle +is often to be heard rising above a din of +horse-cars and heavy wagons. But here, in his +summer quarters, you will listen to his song a +hundred times before you once catch a glimpse +of the singer. At first thought it seems strange +that a bird should be most at home when he is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +away from home; but in the one case he has +nothing but his own safety to consult, while in +the other he is thinking of those whose lives +are more to him than his own, and whose hiding-place +he is every moment on the alert to conceal.</p> + +<p>In Massachusetts we do not expect to find +sparrows in deep woods. They belong in fields +and pastures, in roadside thickets, or by fence-rows +and old stone-walls bordered with barberry +bushes and alders. But these white-throats +are children of the wilderness. It is +one charm of their music that it always comes, +or seems to come, from such a distance,—from +far up the mountain-side, or from the inaccessible +depths of some ravine. I shall not soon forget +its wild beauty as it rose out of the spruce +forests below me, while I was enjoying an +evening promenade, all by myself, over the +long, flat summit of Moosilauke. From his +habit of singing late at night this sparrow is in +some places known as the nightingale. His +more common name is the Peabody bird; while +a Jefferson man, who was driving me over the +Cherry Mountain road, called him the Peverly +bird, and told me the following story:—</p> + +<p>A farmer named Peverly was walking about +his fields one spring morning, trying to make +up his mind whether the time had come to put<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +in his wheat. The question was important, +and he was still in a deep quandary, when a +bird spoke up out of the wood and said, "Sow +wheat, Peverly, Peverly, Peverly!—Sow wheat, +Peverly, Peverly, Peverly!" That settled the +matter. The wheat was sown, and in the fall +a most abundant harvest was gathered; and +ever since then this little feathered oracle has +been known as the Peverly bird.</p> + +<p>We have improved on the custom of the ancients: +they examined a bird's entrails; we listen +to his song. Who says the Yankee is not +wiser than the Greek?</p> + +<p>But I was lying abed in the Crawford House +when the voice of <i>Zonotrichia albicollis</i> sent +my thoughts thus astray, from Moosilauke to +Delphi. That day and the two following were +passed in roaming about the woods near the +hotel. The pretty painted trillium was in blossom, +as was also the dark purple species, and +the hobble-bush showed its broad white cymes +in all directions. Here and there was the modest +little spring beauty (<i>Claytonia Caroliniana</i>), +and not far from the Elephant's Head I +discovered my first and only patch of dicentra, +with its delicate dissected leaves and its oddly +shaped petals of white and pale yellow. The +false mitrewort (<i>Tiarella cordifolia</i>) was in +flower likewise, and the spur which is cut off<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +Mount Willard by the railroad was all aglow +with rhodora,—a perfect flower-garden, on the +monochromatic plan now so much in vogue. +Along the edge of the rocks on the summit of +Mount Willard a great profusion of the common +saxifrage was waving in the fresh breeze:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ten thousand saw I at a glance,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tossing their heads in sprightly dance."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>On the lower parts of the mountains, the foliage +was already well out, while the upper parts +were of a fine purplish tint, which at first I +was unable to account for, but which I soon +discovered to be due to the fact that the trees +at that height were still only in bud.</p> + +<p>A notable feature of the White Mountain +forests is the absence of oaks and hickories. +These tough, hard woods would seem to have +been created on purpose to stand against wind +and cold. But no; the hills are covered with +the fragile poplars and birches and spruces, +with never an oak or hickory among them. I +suspect, indeed, that it is the very softness of +the former which gives them their advantage. +For this, as I suppose, is correlated with rapid +growth; and where the summer is very short, +speed may count for more than firmness of +texture, especially during the first one or two +years of the plant's life. Trees, like men, lose +in one way what they gain in another; or, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +other words, they "have the defects of their +qualities." Probably Paul's confession, "When +I am weak, then am I strong," is after all only +the personal statement of a general law, as true +of a poplar as of a Christian. For we all believe +(do we not?) that the world is a universe, +governed throughout by one Mind, so +that whatever holds in one part is good everywhere.</p> + +<p>But it was June, and the birds, who were +singing from daylight till dark, would have the +most of my attention. It was pleasant to find +here two comparatively rare warblers, of whom +I had before had only casual glimpses,—the +mourning warbler and the bay-breasted. The +former was singing his loud but commonplace +ditty within a few rods of the piazza on one +side of the house, while his congener, the Maryland +yellow-throat, was to be heard on the other +side, along with the black-cap (<i>Dendrœca striata</i>), +the black-and-yellow, and the Canadian +flycatcher. The mourning warbler's song, as +I heard it, was like this: <i>Whit whit whit</i>, <i>wit +wit</i>. The first three notes were deliberate and +loud, on one key, and without accent. The +last two were pitched a little lower, and were +shorter, with the accent on the first of the pair; +they were thinner in tone than the opening +triplet, as is meant to be indicated by the dif<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>ference +of spelling.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> Others of the family were +the golden-crowned thrush, the small-billed +water-thrush, the yellow-rumped, the Blackburnian +(with his characteristic <i>zillup</i>, <i>zillup</i>, +<i>zillup</i>), the black-throated green, the black-throated +blue (the last with his loud, coarse +<i>kree</i>, <i>kree</i>, <i>kree</i>), the redstart, and the elegant +blue yellow-back. Altogether, they were a gorgeous company.</p> + +<p>But the chief singers were the olive-backed +thrushes and the winter wrens. I should be +glad to know on just what principle the olive-backs +and their near relatives, the hermits, distribute +themselves throughout the mountain +region. Each species seems to have its own +sections, to which it returns year after year, +and the olive-backed, being, as is well known, +the more northern species of the two, naturally +prefers the more elevated situations. I have +found the latter abundant near the Profile +House, and for three seasons it has had exclusive +possession of the White Mountain Notch,—so +far, at least, as I have been able to discover.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> +The hermits, on the other hand, frequent such +places as North Conway, Gorham, Jefferson, +Bethlehem, and the vicinity of the Flume.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +Only once have I found the two species in the +same neighborhood. That was near the Breezy +Point House, on the side of Mount Moosilauke; +but this place is so peculiarly romantic, with its +noble amphitheatre of hills, that I could not +wonder neither species was willing to yield the +ground entirely to the other; and even here it +was to be noticed that the hermits were in or +near the sugar-grove, while the Swainsons were +in the forest, far off in an opposite direction.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> + +<p>It is these birds, if any, whose music reaches +the ears of the ordinary mountain tourist. +Every man who is known among his acquaintances +to have a little knowledge of such things +is approached now and then with the question, +"What bird was it, Mr. So-and-So, that I heard +singing up in the mountains? I didn't see +him; he was always ever so far off; but his +voice was wonderful, so sweet and clear and +loud!" As a rule it may safely be taken for +granted that such interrogatories refer either +to the Swainson thrush or to the hermit. The +inquirer is very likely disposed to be incredulous +when he is told that there are birds in his +own woods whose voice is so like that of his +admired New Hampshire songster that, if he +were to hear the two together, he would not at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +first be able to tell the one from the other. He +has never heard them, he protests; which is +true enough, for he never goes into the woods +of his own town, or, if by chance he does, he +leaves his ears behind him in the shop. His +case is not peculiar. Men and women gaze +enraptured at New Hampshire sunsets. How +glorious they are, to be sure! What a pity the +sun does not sometimes set in Massachusetts!</p> + +<p>As a musician the olive-back is certainly inferior +to the hermit, and, according to my taste, +he is surpassed also by the wood thrush and the +Wilson; but he is a magnificent singer, for all +that, and when he is heard in the absence of +the others it is often hard to believe that any +one of them could do better. A good idea of the +rhythm and length of his song may be gained +by pronouncing somewhat rapidly the words, +"I love, I love, I love you," or, as it sometimes +runs, "I love, I love, I love you truly." How +literal this translation is I am not scholar +enough to determine, but without question it +gives the sense substantially.</p> + +<p>The winter wrens were less numerous than +the thrushes, I think, but, like them, they sang +at all hours of the day, and seemed to be well +distributed throughout the woods. We can +hardly help asking how it is that two birds so +very closely related as the house wren and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +winter wren should have been chosen haunts so extremely +diverse,—the one preferring door-yards +in thickly settled villages, the other keeping +strictly to the wildest of all wild places. But +whatever the explanation, we need not wish the +fact itself different. Comparatively few ever +hear the winter wren's song, to be sure (for +you will hardly get it from a hotel piazza), but +it is not the less enjoyed on that account. +There is such a thing as a bird's making himself +too common; and probably it is true even of +the great <i>prima donna</i> that it is not those who +live in the house with her who find most pleasure +in her music. Moreover, there is much in +time and circumstance. You hear a song in +the village street, and pass along unmoved; but +stand in the silence of the forest, with your feet +in a bed of creeping snowberry and oxalis, and +the same song goes to your very soul.</p> + +<p>The great distinction of the winter wren's +melody is its marked rhythm and accent, which +give it a martial, fife-like character. Note +tumbles over note in the true wren manner, and +the strain comes to an end so suddenly that for +the first few times you are likely to think that +the bird has been interrupted. In the middle +is a long in-drawn note, much like one of the +canary's. The odd little creature does not get +far away from the ground. I have never seen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +him sing from a living tree or bush, but always +from a stump or a log, or from the root or +branch of an overturned tree,—from something, +at least, of nearly his own color.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> The +song is intrinsically one of the most beautiful, +and in my ears it has the further merit of being +forever associated with reminiscences of ramblings +among the White Hills. How well I +remember an early morning hour at Profile +Lake, when it came again and again across the +water from the woods on Mount Cannon, under +the Great Stone Face!</p> + +<p>Whichever way I walked, I was sure of the +society of the snow-birds. They hopped familiarly +across the railroad track in front of the +Crawford House, and on the summit of Mount +Washington were scurrying about among the +rocks, opening and shutting their pretty white-bordered +fans. Half-way up Mount Willard I +sat down to rest on a stone, and after a minute +or two out dropped a snow-bird at my feet, and +ran across the road, trailing her wings. I looked +under the bank for her nest, but, to my surprise, +could find nothing of it. So I made sure of +knowing the place again, and continued my +tramp. Returning two hours later, I sat down +upon the same bowlder, and watched for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +bird to appear as before; but she had gathered +courage from my former failure,—or so +it seemed,—and I waited in vain till I rapped +upon the ground over her head. Then she scrambled +out and limped away, repeating her innocent +but hackneyed ruse. This time I was resolved +not to be baffled. The nest was there, +and I would find it. So down on my knees I +got, and scrutinized the whole place most carefully. +But though I had marked the precise +spot, there was no sign of a nest. I was about +giving over the search ignominiously, when I descried +a slight opening between the overhanging +roof of the bank and a layer of earth which +some roots held in place close under it. Into +this slit I inserted my fingers, and there, entirely +out of sight, was the nest full of eggs. No +man could ever have found it, had the bird been +brave and wise enough to keep her seat. However, +I had before this noticed that the snow-bird, +while often extremely clever in choosing +a building site, is seldom very skillful in keeping +a secret. I saw him one day standing on the +side of the same Mount Willard road,<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> gesticu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>lating +and scolding with all his might, as much, +as to say, "Please don't stop here! Go straight +along, I beg of you! Our nest is right under +this bank!" And one glance under the bank +showed that I had not misinterpreted his demonstrations. +For all that, I do not feel like +taking a lofty tone in passing judgment upon +Junco. He is not the only one whose wisdom +is mixed with foolishness. There is at least one +other person of whom the same is true,—a +person of whom I have nevertheless a very good +opinion, and with whom I am, or ought to be, +better acquainted than I am with any animal +that wears feathers.</p> + +<p>The prettiest snow-bird's nest I ever saw was +built beside the Crawford bridle path, on Mount +Clinton, just before the path comes out of the +woods at the top. It was lined with hair-moss +(a species of <i>Polytrichum</i>) of a bright orange +color, and with its four or five white, lilac-spotted +eggs made so attractive a picture that I was +constrained to pause a moment to look at it, +even though I had three miles of a steep, rough +footpath to descend, with a shower threatening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +to overtake me before I could reach the bottom. +I wondered whether the architects really possessed +an eye for color, or had only stumbled +upon this elegant bit of decoration. On the +whole, it seemed more charitable to conclude the +former; and not only more charitable, but more +scientific as well. For, if I understand the matter +aright, Mr. Darwin and his followers have +settled upon the opinion that birds do display +an unmistakable fondness for bright tints; that, +indeed, the males of many species wear brilliant +plumage for no other reason than that their +mates prefer them in that dress. Moreover, if +a bird in New South Wales adorns her bower +with shells and other ornaments, why may not +our little Northern darling beautify her nest +with such humbler materials as her surroundings +offer? On reflection, I am more and more +convinced that the birds knew what they were +doing; probably the female the moment she +discovered the moss, called to her mate, "Oh, +look, how lovely! Do, my dear, let's line our +nest with it!"</p> + +<p>This artistic structure was found on the anniversary +of the battle of Bunker Hill, a day +which I had been celebrating, as best I could, +by climbing the highest hill in New England. +Plunging into the woods within fifty yards of +the Crawford House, I had gone up and up,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +and on and on, through a magnificent forest, +and then over more magnificent rocky heights, +until I stood at last on the platform of the hotel +at the summit. True, the path, which I had +never traveled before, was wet and slippery, +with stretches of ice and snow here and there; +but the shifting view was so grand, the atmosphere +so bracing, and the solitude so impressive +that I enjoyed every step, till it came to clambering +up the Mount Washington cone over the +bowlders. At this point, to speak frankly, I +began to hope that the ninth mile would prove +to be a short one. The guide-books are agreed +in warning the visitor against making this ascent +without a companion, and no doubt they +are right in so doing. A crippling accident +would almost inevitably be fatal, while for several +miles the trail is so indistinct that it would +be difficult, if not impossible, to follow it in a +fog. And yet, if one is willing to take the +risk (and is not so unfortunate as never to +have learned how to keep himself company), +he will find a very considerable compensation +in the peculiar pleasure to be experienced in +being absolutely alone above the world. For +myself, I was shut up to going in this way or +not going at all; and a Bostonian must do +something patriotic on the Seventeenth of June. +But for all that, if the storm which chased me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +down the mountains in the afternoon, clouding +first Mount Washington and then Mount Pleasant +behind me, and shutting me in-doors all the +next day, had started an hour sooner, or if I had +been detained an hour later, it is not impossible +that I might now be writing in a different +strain.</p> + +<p>My reception at the top was none of the +heartiest. The hotel was tightly closed, while +a large snow-bank stood guard before the door. +However, I invited myself into the Signal Service +Station, and made my wants known to one +of the officers, who very kindly spread a table +with such things as he and his companions had +just been eating. It would be out of place to +say much about the luncheon: the bread and +butter were good, and the pudding was interesting. +I had the cook's word for it that the latter +was made of corn-starch, but he volunteered +no explanation of its color, which was nearly +that of chocolate. As a working hypothesis I +adopted the molasses or brown-sugar theory, but +a brief experiment (as brief as politeness permitted) +indicated a total absence of any saccharine +principle. But then, what do we climb +mountains for, if not to see something out of +the common course? On the whole, if this department +of our national government is ever on +trial for extravagance in the matter of high liv<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>ing, +I shall be moved to offer myself as a competent +witness for the defense.</p> + +<p>A company of chimney-swifts were flying +criss-cross over the summit, and one of the men +said that he presumed they lived there. I took +the liberty to doubt his opinion, however. To +me it seemed nothing but a blunder that they +should be there even for an hour. There could +hardly be many insects at that height, I thought, +and I had abundant cause to know that the +woods below were full of them. I knew, also, +that the swifts knew it; for while I had been +prowling about between Crawford's and Fabyan's, +they had several times shot by my head +so closely that I had instinctively fallen to calculating +the probable consequences of a collision. +But, after all, the swift is no doubt a +far better entomologist than I am, though he +has never heard of Packard's Guide. Possibly +there are certain species of insects, and those +of a peculiarly delicate savor, which are to be +obtained only at about this altitude.</p> + +<p>The most enjoyable part of the Crawford path +is the five miles from the top of Mount Clinton +to the foot of the Mount Washington cone. +Along this ridge I was delighted to find in blossom +two beautiful Alpine plants, which I had +missed in previous (July) visits,—the diapensia +(<i>Diapensia Lapponica</i>) and the Lapland rose-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>bay +(<i>Rhododendron Lapponicum</i>),—and to get +also a single forward specimen of <i>Potentilla +frigida</i>. Here and there was a humblebee, +gathering honey from the small purple catkins +of the prostrate willows, now in full bloom. +(Rather high-minded humblebees, they seemed, +more than five thousand feet above the sea!) +Professional entomologists (the chimney-swift, +perhaps, included) may smile at my simplicity, +but I was surprised to find this "animated torrid +zone," this "insect lover of the sun," in such +a Greenland climate. Did he not know that his +own poet had, described him as "hot midsummer's +petted crone"? But possibly he was +equally surprised at my appearance. He might +even have taken his turn at quoting Emerson:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Pants up hither the spruce clerk<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From South Cove and City Wharf"?<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Of the two, he was unquestionably the more at +home, for he was living where in forty-eight +hours I should have found my death. So much +is <i>Bombus</i> better than a man.</p> + +<p>In a little pool of water, which seemed to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +nothing but a transient puddle caused by the +melting snow, was a tiny fish. I asked him by +what miracle he got there, but he could give no +explanation. He, too, might well enough have +joined the noble company of Emersonians:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I never thought to ask, I never knew;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But, in my simple ignorance, suppose<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The self-same Power that brought me here brought you."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Almost at the very top of Mount Clinton I +was saluted by the familiar ditty of the Nashville +warbler. I could hardly believe my ears; +but there was no mistake, for the bird soon appeared +in plain sight. Had it been one of the +hardier-seeming species, the yellow-rumped for +example, I should not have thought it very +strange; but this dainty <i>Helminthophaga</i>, so +common in the vicinity of Boston, did appear to +be out of his latitude, summering here on Alpine +heights. With a good pair of wings, and +the whole continent to choose from, he surely +might have found some more congenial spot +than this in which to bring up his little family. +I took his presence to be only an individual +freak, but a subsequent visitor, who made the +ascent from the Glen, reported the same species +on that side also, and at about the same +height.</p> + +<p>These signs of life on bleak mountain ridges +are highly interesting and suggestive. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +fish, the humblebees, the birds, and a mouse +which scampered away to its hole amid the +rocks,—all these might have found better living +elsewhere. But Nature will have her world +full. Stunted life is better than none, she +thinks. So she plants her forests of spruces, +and keeps them growing, where, with all their +efforts, they cannot get above the height of a +man's knee. There is no beauty about them, +no grace. They sacrifice symmetry and everything +else for the sake of bare existence, reminding +one of Satan's remark, "All that a +man hath will he give for his life."</p> + +<p>Very admirable are the devices by which vegetation +maintains itself against odds. Everybody +notices that many of the mountain species, +like the diapensia, the rose-bay, the Greenland +sandwort (called the mountain daisy by the +Summit House people, for some inscrutable +reason), and the phyllodoce, have blossoms disproportionately +large and handsome; as if they +realized that, in order to attract their indispensable +allies, the insects, to these inhospitable +regions, they must offer them some special inducements. +Their case is not unlike that of a +certain mountain hotel which might be named, +which happens to be poorly situated, but which +keeps itself full, nevertheless, by the peculiar +excellence of its <i>cuisine</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> + +<p>It does not require much imagination to +believe that these hardy vegetable mountaineers +love their wild, desolate dwelling-places as truly +as do the human residents of the region. An +old man in Bethlehem told me that sometimes, +during the long, cold winter, he felt that perhaps +it would be well for him, now his work +was done, to sell his "place" and go down to +Boston to live, near his brother. "But then," +he added, "you know it's dangerous transplanting +an old tree; you're likely as not to kill it." +Whatever we have, in this world, we must pay +for with the loss of something else. The bitter +must be taken with the sweet, be we plants, animals, +or men. These thoughts recurred to me +a day or two later, as I lay on the summit of +Mount Agassiz, in the sun and out of the wind, +gazing down into the Franconia Valley, then in +all its June beauty. Nestled under the lee of +the mountain, but farther from the base, doubtless, +than it seemed from my point of view, was +a small dwelling, scarcely better than a shanty. +Two or three young children were playing about +the door, and near them was the man of the +house splitting wood. The air was still enough +for me to hear every blow, although it reached +me only as the axe was again over the man's +head, ready for the next descent. It was a +charming picture,—the broad, green valley full<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +of sunshine and peace, and the solitary cottage, +from whose doorstep might be seen in one direction +the noble Mount Washington range, and +in another the hardly less noble Franconias. +How easy to live simply and well in such a +grand seclusion! But soon there came a +thought of Wordsworth's sonnet, addressed to +just such a mood, "Yes, there is holy pleasure +in thine eye," and I felt at once the truth of his +admonition. What if the cottage really were +mine,—mine to spend a lifetime in? How +quickly the poetry would turn to prose!</p> + +<p>An hour afterwards, on my way back to the +Sinclair House, I passed a group of men at +work on the highway. One of them was a little +apart from the rest, and out of a social impulse +I accosted him with the remark, "I suppose, +in heaven, the streets never will need +mending." Quick as thought came the reply: +"Well, I hope not. If I ever <i>get</i> there, I don't +want to work on the <i>road</i>." Here spoke universal +human nature, which finds its strong +argument for immortality in its discontent with +matters as they now are. The one thing we +are all sure of is that we were born for something +better than our present employment; and +even those who school themselves most religiously +in the virtue of contentment know very +well how to define that grace so as not to ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>clude +from it a comfortable mixture of "divine +dissatisfaction." Well for us if we are still +able to stand in our place and do faithfully our +allotted task, like the mountain spruces and the +Bethlehemite road-mender.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> He is said to have another song, beautiful and wren-like; but +that I have never heard.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> This is making no account of the gray-cheeked thrushes, who +are found only near the <i>tops</i> of the mountains.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> I have since found both species at Willoughby Lake, Vermont +and the veery with them.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> True when written, but now needing to be qualified by one +exception. <a href="#Page_226">See p. 226.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Beside this road (in June, 1883) I found a nest of the yellow-bellied +flycatcher (<i>Empidonax flaviventris</i>). It was built at the +base of a decayed stump, in a little depression between two roots, +and was partially overarched with growing moss. It contained +four eggs,—white, spotted with brown. I called upon the bird +half a dozen times or more, and found her a model "keeper at +home." On one occasion she allowed my hand to come within two +or three inches of her bill. In every case she flew off without any +outcry or ruse, and once at least she fell immediately to fly-catching +with admirable philosophy. So far as I know, this is the only +nest of the species ever found in New England outside of Maine. +But it is proper to add that I did not capture the bird.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> But by this time the clerk's appearance was, to say the least, +not reprehensibly "spruce." For one thing, what with the moisture +and the sharp stones, he was already becoming jealous of his +shoes, lest they should not hold together till he could get back to +the Crawford House.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="PHILLIDA_AND_CORIDON" id="PHILLIDA_AND_CORIDON"></a>PHILLIDA AND CORIDON.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Fierce warres and faithful loves shall moralize my song.<br /></span> +<span class="signature">Spenser.</span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Much ado there was, God wot:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He would love, and she would not.<br /></span> +<span class="signature_2">Nicholas Breton.</span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>PHILLIDA AND CORIDON.</p> + + +<p>The happiness of birds, heretofore taken for +granted, and long ago put to service in a proverb, +is in these last days made a matter of +doubt. It transpires that they are engaged +without respite in a struggle for existence,—a +struggle so fierce that at least two of them perish +every year for one that survives.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> How, +then, can they be otherwise than miserable?</p> + +<p>There is no denying the struggle, of course; +nor need we question some real effect produced +by it upon the cheerfulness of the participants. +The more rationalistic of the smaller species, +we may be sure, find it hard to reconcile the +existence of hawks and owls with the doctrine +of an all-wise Providence; while even the most +simple-minded of them can scarcely fail to realize +that a world in which one is liable any day +to be pursued by a boy with a shot-gun is not +in any strict sense paradisiacal.</p> + +<p>And yet, who knows the heart of a bird? A<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +child, possibly, or a poet; certainly not a philosopher. +And happiness, too,—is that something +of which the scientific mind can render +us a quite adequate description? Or is it, +rather, a wayward, mysterious thing, coming +often when least expected, and going away +again when, by all tokens, it ought to remain? +How is it with ourselves? Do we wait to +weigh all the good and evil of our state, to take +an accurate account of it <i>pro</i> and <i>con</i>, before +we allow ourselves to be glad or sorry? Not +many of us, I think. Mortuary tables may +demonstrate that half the children born in this +country fail to reach the age of twenty years. +But what then? Our "expectation of life" is +not based upon statistics. The tables may be +correct, for aught we know; but they deal with +men in general and on the average; they have +no message for you and me individually. And +it seems not unlikely that birds may be equally +illogical; always expecting to live, and not die, +and often giving themselves up to impulses of +gladness without stopping to inquire whether, +on grounds of absolute reason, these impulses +are to be justified. Let us hope so, at all events, +till somebody proves the contrary.</p> + +<p>But even looking at the subject a little more +philosophically, we may say—and be thankful +to say it—that the joy of life is not dependent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +upon comfort, nor yet upon safety. The essential +matter is that the heart be engaged. Then, +though we be toiling up the Matterhorn, or +swept along in the rush of a bayonet charge, +we may still find existence not only endurable, +but in the highest degree exhilarating. On +the other hand, if there is no longer anything +we care for; if enthusiasm is dead, and hope +also, then, though we have all that money can +buy, suicide is perhaps the only fitting action +that is left for us,—unless, perchance, we are +still able to pass the time in writing treatises to +prove that everybody else ought to be as unhappy +as ourselves.</p> + +<p>Birds have many enemies and their full share +of privation, but I do not believe that they often +suffer from <i>ennui</i>. Having "neither storehouse +nor barn,"<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> they are never in want of +something to do. From sunrise till noon there +is the getting of breakfast, then from noon till +sunset the getting of dinner,—both out-of-doors, +and without any trouble of cookery or +dishes,—a kind of perpetual picnic. What<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +could be simpler or more delightful? Carried +on in this way, eating is no longer the coarse +and sensual thing we make it, with our set +meal-times and elaborate preparations.</p> + +<p>Country children know that there are two +ways to go berrying. According to the first +of these you stroll into the pasture in the cool +of the day, and at your leisure pick as many as +you choose of the ripest and largest of the berries, +putting every one into your mouth. This +is agreeable. According to the second, you +carry a basket, which you are expected to bring +home again well filled. And this method—well, +tastes will differ, but following the good +old rule for judging in such cases, I must believe +that most unsophisticated persons prefer +the other. The hand-to-mouth process certainly +agrees best with our idea of life in Eden; +and, what is more to the purpose now, it is the +one which the birds, still keeping the garden +instead of tilling the ground, continue to follow.</p> + +<p>That this unworldliness of the birds has any +religious or theological significance I do not +myself suppose. Still, as anybody may see, +there are certain very plain Scripture texts on +their side. Indeed, if birds were only acute +theologians, they would unquestionably proceed +to turn these texts (since they find it so easy to +obey them) into the basis of a "system of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +truth." Other parts of the Bible must be <i>interpreted</i>, +to be sure (so the theory would run); +but <i>these</i> statements mean just what they say, +and whoever meddles with them is carnally +minded and a rationalist.</p> + +<p>Somebody will object, perhaps, that, with +our talk about a "perpetual picnic," we are +making a bird's life one cloudless holiday; contradicting +what we have before admitted about +a struggle for existence, and leaving out of +sight altogether the seasons of scarcity, the +storms, and the biting cold. But we intend no +such foolish recantation. These hardships are +real enough, and serious enough. What we +maintain is that evils of this kind are not necessarily +inconsistent with enjoyment, and may +even give to life an additional zest. It is a +matter of every-day observation that the people +who have nothing to do except to "live +well" (as the common sarcasm has it) are not +always the most cheerful; while there are +certain diseases, like pessimism and the gout, +which seem appointed to wait on luxury and +idleness,—as though nature were determined +to have the scales kept somewhat even. And +surely this divine law of compensation has not +left the innocent birds unprovided for,—the +innocent birds of whom it was said, "Your +heavenly Father feedeth them." How must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +the devoted pair exult, when, in spite of owls +and hawks, squirrels and weasels, small boys +and full-grown oölogists, they have finally +reared a brood of offspring! The long uncertainty +and the thousand perils only intensify +the joy. In truth, so far as this world is concerned, +the highest bliss is never to be had +without antecedent sorrow; and even of heaven +itself we may not scruple to say that, if there +are painters there, they probably feel obliged +to put some shadows into their pictures.</p> + +<p>But of course (and this is what we have been +coming to through this long introduction),—of +course our friends of the air are happiest in the +season of mating; happiest, and therefore most +attractive to us who find our pleasure in studying +them. In spring, of all times of the year, +it seems a pity that everybody should not turn +ornithologist. For "all mankind love a lover;" +and the world, in consequence, has given itself +up to novel-reading, not knowing, unfortunately, +how much better that <i>rôle</i> is taken by +the birds than by the common run of story-book +heroes.</p> + +<p>People whose notions of the subject are derived +from attending to the antics of our imported +sparrows have no idea how delicate and +beautiful a thing a real feathered courtship is. +To tell the truth, these foreigners have asso<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>ciated +too long and too intimately with men, +and have fallen far away from their primal innocence. +There is no need to describe their +actions. The vociferous and most unmannerly +importunity of the suitor, and the correspondingly +spiteful rejection of his overtures by the +little vixen on whom his affections are for the +moment placed,—these we have all seen to +our hearts' discontent.</p> + +<p>The sparrow will not have been brought over +the sea for nothing, however, if his bad behavior +serves to heighten our appreciation of our own +native songsters, with their "perfect virtues" +and "manners for the heart's delight."</p> + +<p>The American robin, for instance, is far from +being a bird of exceptional refinement. His +nest is rude, not to say slovenly, and his general +deportment is unmistakably common. But +watch him when he goes a-wooing, and you will +begin to feel quite a new respect for him. How +gently he approaches his beloved! How carefully +he avoids ever coming disrespectfully near! +No sparrow-like screaming, no dancing about, +no melodramatic gesticulation. If she moves +from one side of the tree to the other, or to the +tree adjoining, he follows in silence. Yet every +movement is a petition, an assurance that his +heart is hers and ever must be. The action is +extremely simple; there is nothing of which to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +make an eloquent description; but I should +pity the man who could witness it with indifference. +Not that the robin's suit is always carried +on in the same way; he is much too versatile +for that. On one occasion, at least, I saw +him holding himself absolutely motionless, in a +horizontal posture, staring at his sweetheart as +if he would charm her with his gaze, and emitting +all the while a subdued hissing sound. The +significance of this conduct I do not profess to +have understood; it ended with his suddenly +darting at the female, who took wing and was +pursued. Not improbably the robin finds the +feminine nature somewhat fickle, and counts it +expedient to vary his tactics accordingly; for +it is getting to be more and more believed that, +in kind at least, the intelligence of the lower +animals is not different from ours.</p> + +<p>I once came unexpectedly upon a wood +thrush, who was in the midst of a performance +very similar to this of the robin standing +on the dead branch of a tree, with his crown +feathers erect, his bill set wide open, and his +whole body looking as rigid as death. His +mate, as I perceived the next moment, was +not far away, on the same limb. If he was attempting +fascination, he had gone very clumsily +about it, I thought, unless his mate's idea of +beauty was totally different from mine; for I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +could hardly keep from laughing at his absurd +appearance. It did not occur to me till afterwards +that he had perhaps heard of Othello's +method, and was at that moment acting out a +story</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i10">"of most disastrous chances,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of moving accidents by flood and field,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of hair-breadth scapes i' the imminent deadly breach,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of being taken by the insolent foe<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And sold to slavery."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>How much depends upon the point of view! +Here was I, ready to laugh; while poor Desdemona +only thought, "'Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous +pitiful." Dear sympathetic soul! Let +us hope that she was never called to play out +the tragedy.</p> + +<p>Two things are very noticeable during the +pairing season,—the scarcity of females and +their indifference. Every one of them seems +to have at least two admirers dangling after +her,<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> while she is almost sure to carry herself +as if a wedding were the last thing she would +ever consent to think of; and that not because +of bashfulness, but from downright aversion. +The observer begins to suspect that the fair +creatures have really entered into some sort of +no-marriage league, and that there are not to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +be any nests this year, nor any young birds. +But by and by he discovers that somehow, he +cannot surmise how,—it must have been when +his eyes were turned the other way,—the scene +is entirely changed, the maidens are all wedded, +and even now the nests are being got ready.</p> + +<p>I watched a trio of cat-birds in a clump of +alder bushes by the roadside; two males, almost +as a matter of course, "paying attentions" to +one female. Both suitors were evidently in +earnest; each hoped to carry off the prize, and +perhaps felt that he should be miserable forever +if he were disappointed; and yet, on their +part, everything was being done decently and +in order. So far as I saw, there was no disposition +to quarrel. Only let the dear creature +choose one of them, and the other would take +his broken heart away. So, always at a modest +remove, they followed her about from bush to +bush, entreating her in most loving and persuasive +tones to listen to their suit. But she, all +this time, answered every approach with a +snarl; she would never have anything to do +with either of them; she disliked them both, +and only wished they would leave her to herself. +This lasted as long as I stayed to watch. +Still I had little doubt she fully intended to +accept one of them, and had even made up her +mind already which it should be. She knew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +enough, I felt sure, to calculate the value of a +proper maidenly reluctance. How could her +mate be expected to rate her at her worth, if +she allowed herself to be won too easily? Besides, +she could afford not to be in haste, seeing +she had a choice of two.</p> + +<p>What a comfortably simple affair the matrimonial +question is with the feminine cat-bird! +Her wooers are all of equally good family and +all equally rich. There is literally nothing for +her to do but to look into her own heart and +choose. No temptation has she to sell herself +for the sake of a fashionable name or a fine +house, or in order to gratify the prejudice of +father or mother. As for a marriage settlement, +she knows neither the name nor the +thing. In fact, marriage in her thought is a +simple union of hearts, with no taint of anything +mercantile about it. Happy cat-bird! +She perhaps imagines that human marriages +are of the same ideal sort!</p> + +<p>I have spoken of the affectionate language of +these dusky lovers; but it was noticeable that +they did not sing, although, to have fulfilled +the common idea of such an affair, they certainly +should have been doing so, and each trying +his best to outsing the other. Possibly +there had already been such a tournament before +my arrival; or, for aught I know, this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +particular female may have given out that she +had no ear for music.</p> + +<p>In point of fact, however, there was nothing +peculiar in their conduct. No doubt, in the +earlier stages of a bird's attachment he is likely +to express his passion musically; but later he +is not content to warble from a tree-top. There +are things to be said which cannot appropriately +be spoken at long range; and unless my +study of novels has been to little purpose, all +this agrees well with the practices of human +gallants. Do not these begin by singing under +the lady's window, or by sending verses to her? +and are not such proceedings intended to prepare +the way, as speedily as possible, for others +of a more satisfying, though it may be of a less +romantic nature?</p> + +<p>Bearing this in mind, we may be able to account, +in part at least, for the inexperienced +observer's disappointment when, fresh from the +perusal of (for example) the thirteenth chapter +of Darwin's "Descent of Man," he goes into +the woods to look about for himself. He expects +to find here and there two or three songsters, +each in turn doing his utmost to surpass +the brilliancy and power of the other's music; +while a feminine auditor sits in full view, preparing +to render her verdict, and reward the +successful competitor with her own precious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +self. This would be a pretty picture. Unfortunately, +it is looked for in vain. The two or +three singers may be found, likely enough; but +the female, if she be indeed within hearing, is +modestly hidden away somewhere in the bushes, +and our student is none the wiser. Let him +watch as long as he please, he will hardly see +the prize awarded.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless he need not grudge the time +thus employed; not, at any rate, if he be sensitive +to music. For it will be found that birds +have at least one attribute of genius: they can +do their best only on great occasions. Our +brown thrush, for instance, is a magnificent +singer, albeit he is not of the best school, being +too "sensational" to suit the most exacting +taste. His song is a grand improvisation: a +good deal jumbled, to be sure, and without any +recognizable form or theme; and yet, like a +Liszt rhapsody, it perfectly answers its purpose,—that +is, it gives the performer full scope to +show what he can do with his instrument. You +may laugh a little, if you like, at an occasional +grotesque or overwrought passage, but unless +you are well used to it you will surely be astonished. +Such power and range of voice; such +startling transitions; such endless variety! And +withal such boundless enthusiasm and almost +incredible endurance! Regarded as pure mu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>sic, +one strain of the hermit thrush is to my +mind worth the whole of it; just as a single +movement of Beethoven's is better than a world +of Liszt transcriptions. But in its own way it +is unsurpassable.</p> + +<p>Still, though this is a meagre and quite unexaggerated +account of the ordinary song of the +brown thrush, I have discovered that even he +can be outdone—by himself. One morning +in early May I came upon three birds of this +species, all singing at once, in a kind of jealous +frenzy. As they sang they continually shifted +from tree to tree, and one in particular (the +one nearest to where I stood) could hardly be +quiet a moment. Once he sang with full power +while on the ground (or close to it, for he was +just then behind a low bush), after which he +mounted to the very tip of a tall pine, which +bent beneath his weight. In the midst of the +hurly-burly one of the trio suddenly sounded +the whip-poor-will's call twice,—an absolutely +perfect reproduction.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> + +<p>The significance of all this sound and fury,—what +the prize was, if any, and who obtained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +it,—this another can conjecture as well as myself. +I know no more than old Kaspar:——</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'Why, that I cannot tell,' said he,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But 'twas a famous victory.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>As I turned to come away, the contest all at +once ceased, and the silence of the woods, or +what seemed like silence, was really impressive. +The chewinks and field sparrows were singing, +but it was like the music of a village singer +after Patti; or, to make the comparison less +unjust, like the Pastoral Symphony of Handel +after a Wagner tempest.</p> + +<p>It is curious how deeply we are sometimes +affected by a very trifling occurrence. I have +remembered many times a slight scene in which +three purple finches were the actors. Of the +two males, one was in full adult plumage of +bright crimson, while the other still wore his +youthful suit of brown. First, the older bird +suspended himself in mid air, and sang most +beautifully; dropping, as he concluded, to a +perch beside the female. Then the younger +candidate, who was already sitting near by, +took his turn, singing nearly or quite as well +as his rival, but without quitting the branch, +though his wings quivered. I saw no more. +Yet, as I say, I have often since thought of the +three birds, and wondered whether the bright +feathers and the flying song carried the day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +against the younger suitor. I fear they did. +Sometimes, too, I have queried whether young +birds (who none the less are of age to marry) +can be so very meek or so very dull as never to +rebel against the fashion that only the old fellows +shall dress handsomely; and I have tried +in vain to imagine the mutterings, deep and +loud, which such a law would excite in certain +other quarters. It pains me to say it, but I +suspect that taxation without representation +would seem a small injustice, in comparison.</p> + +<p>Like these linnets in the exceptional interest +they excited were two large seabirds, who suddenly +appeared circling about over the woods, +as I was taking a solitary walk on a Sunday +morning in April. One of them was closely +pursuing the other; not as though he were trying +to overtake her, but rather as though he +were determined to keep her company. They +swept now this way, now that,—now lost to +sight, and now reappearing; and once they +passed straight over my head, so that I heard +the whistling of their wings. Then they were +off, and I saw them no more. They came from +far, and by night they were perhaps a hundred +leagues away. But I followed them with my +blessing, and to this day I feel toward them a +little as I suppose we all do toward a certain +few strangers whom we have met here and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +there in our journeyings, and chatted with for +an hour or two. We had never seen them before; +if we learned their names we have long +ago forgotten them; but somehow the persons +themselves keep a place in our memory, and +even in our affection.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I crossed a moor, with a name of its own<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And a certain use in the world, no doubt;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yet a hand's breadth of it shines alone<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Mid the blank miles round about:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"For there I picked up on the heather,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And there I put inside my breast,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A moulted feather, an eagle-feather!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Well, I forget the rest."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Since we cannot ask birds for an explanation +of their conduct, we have nothing for it but to +steal their secrets, as far as possible, by patient +and stealthy watching. In this way I hope, +sooner or later, to find out what the golden-winged +woodpecker means by the shout with +which he makes the fields reëcho in the spring, +especially in the latter half of April. I have +no doubt it has something to do with the process +of mating, but it puzzles me to guess just +what the message can be which requires to be +published so loudly. Such a stentorian, long-winded +cry! You wonder where the bird finds +breath for such an effort, and think he must be +a very ungentle lover, surely. But withhold +your judgment for a few days, till you see him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +and his mate gamboling about the branches of +some old tree, calling in soft, affectionate tones, +<i>Wick-a-wick, wick-a-wick</i>; then you will confess +that, whatever failings the golden-wing +may have, he is not to be charged with insensibility. +The fact is that our "yellow-hammer" +has a genius for noise. When he is <i>very</i> happy +he drums. Sometimes, indeed, he marvels how +birds who haven't this resource are able to get +through the world at all. Nor ought we to +think it strange if in his love-making he finds +great use for this his crowning accomplishment. +True, we have nowhere read of a human lover's +serenading his mistress with a drum; but we +must remember what creatures of convention +men are, and that there is no inherent reason +why a drum should not serve as well as a flute +for such a purpose.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"All thoughts, all passions, all delights,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whatever stirs this mortal frame,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>All</i> are but ministers of Love,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And feed his sacred flame."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>I saw two of these flickers clinging to the +trunk of a shell-bark tree; which, by the way, +is a tree after the woodpecker's own heart. +One was perhaps fifteen feet above the other, +and before each was a strip of loose bark, a sort +of natural drum-head. First, the lower one +"beat his music out," rather softly. Then,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +as he ceased, and held his head back to listen, +the other answered him; and so the dialogue +went on. Evidently, they were already mated, +and were now renewing their mutual vows; +for birds, to their praise be it spoken, believe +in courtship after marriage. The day happened +to be Sunday, and it did occur to me that possibly +this was the woodpeckers' ritual,—a kind +of High Church service, with antiphonal choirs. +But I dismissed the thought; for, on the whole, +the shouting seems more likely to be diagnostic, +and in spite of his gold-lined wings, I have +set the flicker down as almost certainly an old-fashioned +Methodist.</p> + +<p>Speaking of courtship after marriage, I am +reminded of a spotted sandpiper, whose capers +I amused myself with watching, one day last +June, on the shore of Saco Lake. As I caught +sight of him, he was straightening himself up, +with a pretty, self-conscious air, at the same +time spreading his white-edged tail, and calling, +<i>Tweet, tweet, tweet</i>.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> Afterwards he got upon +a log, where, with head erect and wings thrown +forward and downward, he ran for a yard or +two, calling as before. This trick seemed es<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>pecially +to please him, and was several times +repeated. He ran rapidly, and with a comical +prancing movement; but nothing he did was +half so laughable as the behavior of his mate, +who all this while dressed her feathers without +once deigning to look at her spouse's performance. +Undoubtedly they had been married for +several weeks, and she was, by this time, well +used to his nonsense. It must be a devoted +husband, I fancy, who continues to offer attentions +when they are received in such a spirit.</p> + +<p>Walking a log is a somewhat common practice +with birds. I once detected our little golden-crowned +thrush showing off in this way to his +mate, who stood on the ground close at hand. +In his case the head was lowered instead of +raised, and the general effect was heightened by +his curiously precise gait, which even on ordinary +occasions is enough to provoke a smile.</p> + +<p>Not improbably every species of birds has its +own code of etiquette; unwritten, of course, but +carefully handed down from father to son, and +faithfully observed. Nor is it cause for wonder +if, in our ignorant eyes, some of these "society +manners" look a little ridiculous. Even the +usages of fashionable human circles have not +always escaped the laughter of the profane.</p> + +<p>I was standing on the edge of a small thicket, +observing a pair of cuckoos as they made a break<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>fast +out of a nest of tent caterpillars (it was a +feast rather than a common meal; for the caterpillars +were plentiful, and, as I judged, just +at their best, being about half grown), when a +couple of scarlet tanagers appeared upon the +scene. The female presently selected a fine strip +of cedar bark, and started off with it, sounding +a call to her handsome husband, who at once +followed in her wake. I thought, What a brute, +to leave his wife to build the house! But he, +plainly enough, felt that in escorting her back +and forth he was doing all that ought to be expected +of any well-bred, scarlet-coated tanager. +And the lady herself, if one might infer anything +from her tone and demeanor, was of the +same opinion. I mention this trifling occurrence, +not to put any slight upon <i>Pyranga rubra</i> (who +am I, that I should accuse so gentle and well +dressed a bird of bad manners?), but merely as +an example of the way in which feathered politeness +varies. In fact, it seems not unlikely that +the male tanager may abstain on principle from +taking any active part in constructing the nest, +lest his fiery color should betray its whereabouts. +As for his kindness and loyalty, I only wish I +could feel as sure of one half the human husbands +whom I meet.</p> + +<p>It would be very ungallant of me, however, to +leave my readers to understand that the female<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +bird is always so unsympathetic as most of the +descriptions thus far given would appear to indicate. +In my memory are several scenes, any +one of which, if I could put it on paper as I saw +it, would suffice to correct such an erroneous +impression. In one of these the parties were a +pair of chipping sparrows. Never was man so +churlish that his heart would not have been +touched with the vision of their gentle but rapturous +delight. As they chased each other +gayly from branch to branch and from tree to +tree, they flew with that delicate, affected movement +of the wings which birds are accustomed +to use at such times, and which, perhaps, bears +the same relation to their ordinary flight that +dancing does to the every-day walk of men and +women. The two seemed equally enchanted, +and both sang. Little they knew of the "struggle +for existence" and the "survival of the +fittest." Adam and Eve, in Paradise, were never +more happy.</p> + +<p>A few weeks later, taking an evening walk, +I was stopped by the sight of a pair of cedar-birds +on a stone wall. They had chosen a convenient +flat stone, and were hopping about upon +it, pausing every moment or two to put their +little bills together. What a loving ecstasy possessed +them! Sometimes one, sometimes the +other, sounded a faint lisping note, and motioned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +for another kiss. But there is no setting forth +the ineffable grace and sweetness of their chaste +behavior. I looked and looked, till a passing +carriage frightened them away. They were +only common cedar-birds; if I were to see them +again I should not know them; but if my pen +were equal to my wish, they should be made +immortal.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Wallace, <i>Natural Selection</i>, p. 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> The shrike lays up grasshoppers and sparrows, and the California +woodpecker hoards great numbers of acorns, but it is still +in dispute, I believe, whether thrift is the motive with either of +them. Considering what has often been done in similar cases, we +may think it surprising that the Scripture text above quoted (together +with its exegetical parallel, Matthew vi. 26) has never been +brought into court to settle the controversy; but to the best of my +knowledge it never has been.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> So near do birds come to Mr. Ruskin's idea that "a girl worth +anything ought to have always half a dozen or so of suitors under +vow for her."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"That's the wise thrush: he sings each song twice over,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lest you should think he never could recapture<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The first fine careless rapture!"<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p> +The "authorities" long since forbade <i>Harporhynchus rufus</i> to +play the mimic. Probably in the excitement of the moment this +fellow forgot himself.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> May one who knows nothing of philology venture to inquire +whether the very close agreement of this <i>tweet</i> with our sweet +(compare also the Anglo-Saxon <i>swéte</i>, the Icelandic <i>sœtr</i>, and the +Sanskrit <i>svad</i>) does not point to a common origin of the Aryan +and sandpiper languages?</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> +<p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="SCRAPING_ACQUAINTANCE" id="SCRAPING_ACQUAINTANCE"></a>SCRAPING ACQUAINTANCE.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A man that hath friends must show himself friendly.<br /></span> +<span class="signature">Proverbs xviii. 24.</span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>SCRAPING ACQUAINTANCE.</p> + + +<p>As I was crossing Boston Common, some +years ago, my attention was caught by the unusual +behavior of a robin, who was standing on +the lawn, absolutely motionless, and every few +seconds making a faint hissing noise. So much +engaged was he that, even when a dog ran near +him, he only started slightly, and on the instant +resumed his statue-like attitude. Wondering +what this could mean, and not knowing how +else to satisfy my curiosity, I bethought myself +of a man whose letters about birds I had now +and then noticed in the daily press. So, looking +up his name in the City Directory, and finding +that he lived at such a number, Beacon +Street, I wrote him a note of inquiry. He must +have been amused as he read it; for I remember +giving him the title of "Esquire," and speaking +of his communications to the newspapers as +the ground of my application to him. "Such +is fame!" he likely enough said to himself. +"Here is a man with eyes in his head, a man,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +moreover, who has probably been at school in +his time,—for most of his words are spelled +correctly,—and yet he knows my name only +as he has seen it signed once in a while to a few +lines in a newspaper." Thoughts like these, +however, did not prevent his replying to the +note (my "valued favor") with all politeness, +although he confessed himself unable to answer +my question; and by the time I had occasion to +trouble him again I had learned that he was to +be addressed as Doctor, and, furthermore, was +an ornithologist of world-wide reputation, being, +in fact, one of the three joint-authors of the +most important work so far issued on the birds +of North America.</p> + +<p>Certainly I was and am grateful to him (he +is now dead) for his generous treatment of my +ignorance; but even warmer is my feeling toward +that city thrush, who, all unconscious of +what he was doing, started me that day on a +line of study which has been ever since a continual +delight. Most gladly would I do him +any kindness in my power; but I have little +doubt that, long ere this, he, too, has gone the +way of all the earth. As to what he was thinking +about on that memorable May morning, I am +as much in the dark as ever. But there is no +law against a bird's behaving mysteriously, I +suppose. Most of us, I am sure, often do things<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +which are inexplicable to ourselves, and once in +a very great while, perhaps, it would puzzle even +our next-door neighbors to render a complete account +of our motives.</p> + +<p>Whatever the robin meant, however, and no +doubt there was some good reason for his conduct, +he had given my curiosity the needed +jog. Now, at last, I would do what I had often +dreamed of doing,—learn something about the +birds of my own region, and be able to recognize +at least the more common ones when I saw them.</p> + +<p>The interest of the study proved to be the +greater for my ignorance, which, to speak +within bounds, was nothing short of wonderful; +perhaps I might appropriately use a more fashionable +word, and call it phenomenal. All my +life long I had had a kind of passion for being +out-of-doors; and, to tell the truth, I had been +so often seen wandering by myself in out-of-the-way +wood-paths, or sitting idly about on stone +walls in lonesome pastures, that some of my +Philistine townsmen had most likely come to +look upon me as no better than a vagabond. +Yet I was not a vagabond, for all that. I liked +work, perhaps, as well as the generality of people. +But I was unfortunate in this respect: +while I enjoyed in-door work, I hated to be in +the house; and, on the other hand, while I enjoyed +being out-of-doors, I hated all manner of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +out-door employment. I was not lazy, but I possessed—well, +let us call it the true aboriginal +temperament; though I fear that this distinction +will be found too subtile, even for the well-educated, +unless, along with their education, +they have a certain sympathetic bias, which, +after all, is the main thing to be depended on +in such nice psychological discriminations.</p> + +<p>With all my rovings in wood and field, however, +I knew nothing of any open-air study. +Study was a thing of books. At school we were +never taught to look elsewhere for knowledge. +Reading and spelling, geography and grammar, +arithmetic and algebra, geometry and trigonometry,—these +were studied, of course, as also +were Latin and Greek. But none of our lessons +took us out of the school-room, unless it was +astronomy, the study of which I had nearly forgotten; +and that we pursued in the night-time, +when birds and plants were as though they were +not. I cannot recollect that any one of my teachers +ever called my attention to a natural object. +It seems incredible, but, so far as my memory +serves, I was never in the habit of observing the +return of the birds in the spring or their departure +in the autumn; except, to be sure, that +the semi-annual flight of the ducks and geese +was always a pleasant excitement, more especially +because there were several lakes (invari<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>ably +spoken of as ponds) in our vicinity, on the +borders of which the village "gunners" built +pine-branch booths in the season.</p> + +<p>But now, as I have said, my ignorance was +converted all at once into a kind of blessing; +for no sooner had I begun to read bird +books, and consult a cabinet of mounted specimens, +than every turn out-of-doors became full +of all manner of delightful surprises. Could it +be that what I now beheld with so much wonder +was only the same as had been going on +year after year in these my own familiar lanes +and woods? Truly the human eye is nothing +more than a window, of no use unless the man +looks out of it.</p> + +<p>Some of the experiences of that period seem +ludicrous enough in the retrospect. Only two +or three days after my eyes were first opened I +was out with a friend in search of wild-flowers +(I was piloting him to a favorite station for +<i>Viola pubescens</i>), when I saw a most elegant +little creature, mainly black and white, but +with brilliant orange markings. He was darting +hither and thither among the branches of +some low trees, while I stared at him in amazement, +calling on my comrade, who was as ignorant +as myself, but less excited, to behold the +prodigy. Half trembling lest the bird should +prove to be some straggler from the tropics, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +like of which would not be found in the cabinet +before mentioned, I went thither that very +evening. Alas, my silly fears! there stood the +little beauty's exact counterpart, labeled <i>Setophaga +ruticilla</i>, the American redstart,—a bird +which the manual assured me was very common +in my neighborhood.</p> + +<p>But it was not my eyes only that were +opened, my ears also were touched. It was as +if all the birds had heretofore been silent, and +now, under some sudden impulse, had broken +out in universal concert. What a glorious +chorus it was; and every voice a stranger! +For a week or more I was puzzled by a song +which I heard without fail whenever I went +into the woods, but the author of which I could +never set eyes on,—a song so exceptionally +loud and shrill, and marked by such a vehement +crescendo, that, even to my new-found +ears, it stood out from the general medley a +thing by itself. Many times I struck into the +woods in the direction whence it came, but +without getting so much as a flying glimpse +of the musician. Very mysterious, surely! +Finally, by accident I believe, I caught the fellow +in the very act of singing, as he stood on +a dead pine-limb; and a few minutes later he +was on the ground, walking about (not hopping) +with the primmest possible gait,—a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +small olive-brown bird, with an orange crown +and a speckled breast. Then I knew him for +the golden-crowned thrush; but it was not for +some time after this that I heard his famous +evening song, and it was longer still before I +found his curious roofed nest.</p> + +<p>"Happy those early days," those days of +childish innocence,—though I was a man +grown,—when every bird seemed newly created, +and even the redstart and the wood wagtail +were like rarities from the ends of the +earth. Verily, my case was like unto Adam's, +when every fowl of the air was brought before +him for a name.</p> + +<p>One evening, on my way back to the city +after an afternoon ramble, I stopped just at +dusk in a grove of hemlocks, and soon out of +the tree-top overhead came a song,—a brief +strain of about six notes, in a musical but +rather rough voice, and in exquisite accord +with the quiet solemnity of the hour. Again +and again the sounds fell on my ear, and as +often I endeavored to obtain a view of the +singer; but he was in the thick of the upper +branches, and I looked for him in vain. How +delicious the music was! a perfect lullaby, +drowsy and restful; like the benediction of the +wood on the spirit of a tired city-dweller. I +blessed the unknown songster in return; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +even now I have a feeling that the peculiar enjoyment +which the song of the black-throated +green warbler never fails to afford me may perhaps +be due in some measure to its association +with that twilight hour.</p> + +<p>To this same hemlock grove I was in the +habit, in those days, of going now and then +to listen to the evening hymn of the veery, or +Wilson thrush. Here, if nowhere else, might +be heard music fit to be called sacred. Nor did +it seem a disadvantage, but rather the contrary, +when, as sometimes happened, I was compelled +to take my seat in the edge of the wood, and +wait quietly, in the gathering darkness, for +vespers to begin. The veery's mood is not so +lofty as the hermit's, nor is his music to be compared +for brilliancy and fullness with that of the +wood thrush; but, more than any other bird-song +known to me, the veery's has, if I may +say so, the accent of sanctity. Nothing is here +of self-consciousness; nothing of earthly pride +or passion. If we chance to overhear it and +laud the singer, that is our affair. Simple-hearted +worshiper that he is, he has never +dreamed of winning praise for himself by the +excellent manner in which he praises his Creator,—an +absence of thrift, which is very becoming +in thrushes, though, I suppose, it is +hardly to be looked for in human choirs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> + +<p>And yet, for all the unstudied ease and simplicity +of the veery's strain, he is a great master +of <i>technique</i>. In his own artless way he does +what I have never heard any other bird attempt: +he gives to his melody all the force of +harmony. How this unique and curious effect, +this vocal double-stopping, as a violinist might +term it, is produced, is not certainly known; +but it would seem that it must be by an <i>arpeggio</i>, +struck with such consummate quickness and +precision that the ear is unable to follow it, and +is conscious of nothing but the resultant chord. +At any rate, the thing itself is indisputable, and +has often been commented on.</p> + +<p>Moreover, this is only half the veery's technical +proficiency. Once in a while, at least, he +will favor you with a delightful feat of ventriloquism; +beginning to sing in single voice, as +usual, and anon, without any noticeable increase +in the loudness of the tones, diffusing the music +throughout the wood, as if there were a bird in +every tree, all singing together in the strictest +time. I am not sure that all members of the +species possess this power, and I have never +seen the performance alluded to in print; but +I have heard it when the illusion was complete, +and the effect most beautiful.</p> + +<p>Music so devout and unostentatious as the +veery's does not appeal to the hurried or the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +preoccupied. If you would enjoy it you must +bring an ear to hear. I have sometimes pleased +myself with imagining a resemblance between +it and the poetry of George Herbert,—both +uncared for by the world, but both, on that very +account, prized all the more dearly by the few +in every generation whose spirits are in tune +with theirs.</p> + +<p>This bird is one of a group of small thrushes +called the <i>Hylocichlæ</i>, of which group we have +five representatives in the Atlantic States: the +wood thrush; the Wilson, or tawny thrush; +the hermit; the olive-backed, or Swainson; and +the gray-cheeked, or Alice's thrush. To the +unpracticed eye the five all look alike. All of +them, too, have the same glorious voice, so that +the young student is pretty sure to find it a +matter of some difficulty to tell them apart. +Yet there are differences of coloration which +may be trusted as constant, and to which, after +a while, the eye becomes habituated; and, at +the same time, each species has a song and call-notes +peculiar to itself. One cannot help wishing, +indeed, that he might hear the five singing +by turns in the same wood. Then he could fix +the distinguishing peculiarities of the different +songs in his mind so as never to confuse them +again. But this is more than can be hoped +for; the listener must be content with hearing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +two, or at the most three, of the species singing +together, and trust his memory to make the necessary +comparison.</p> + +<p>The song of the wood thrush is perhaps the +most easily set apart from the rest, because of +its greater compass of voice and bravery of execution. +The Wilson's song, as you hear it by +itself, seems so perfectly characteristic that you +fancy you can never mistake any other for it; +and yet, if you are in northern New England +only a week afterwards, you may possibly hear +a Swainson (especially if he happens to be one +of the best singers of his species, and, more especially +still, if he happens to be at just the +right distance away), who you will say, at first +thought, is surely a Wilson. The difficulty of +distinguishing the voices is naturally greatest in +the spring, when they have not been heard for +eight or nine months. Here, as elsewhere, the +student must be willing to learn the same lesson +over and over, letting patience have her perfect +work. That the five songs are really distinguishable +is well illustrated by the fact (which +I have before mentioned), that the presence of +the Alice thrush in New England during the +breeding season was announced as probable by +myself, simply on the strength of a song which +I had heard in the White Mountains, and which, +as I believed, must be his, notwithstanding I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +was entirely unacquainted with it, and though +all our books affirmed that the Alice thrush +was not a summer resident of any part of the +United States.</p> + +<p>It is worth remarking, also, in this connection, +that the <i>Hylocichlæ</i> differ more decidedly +in their notes of alarm than in their songs. +The wood thrush's call is extremely sharp and +brusque, and is usually fired off in a little volley; +that of the Wilson is a sort of whine, or +snarl, in distressing contrast with his song; the +hermit's is a quick, <i>sotto voce</i>, sometimes almost +inaudible <i>chuck</i>; the Swainson's is a mellow +whistle; while that of the Alice is something +between the Swainson's and the Wilson's,—not +so gentle and refined as the former, nor so +outrageously vulgar as the latter.</p> + +<p>In what is here said about discriminating +species it must be understood that I am not +speaking of such identification as will answer +a strictly scientific purpose. For that the bird +must be shot. To the maiden</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"whose light blue eyes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are tender over drowning flies,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>this decree will no doubt sound cruel. Men who +pass laws of that sort may call themselves ornithologists, +if they will; for her part she calls them +butchers. We might turn on our fair accuser, it +is true, with some inquiry about the two or three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +bird-skins which adorn her bonnet. But that +would be only giving one more proof of our heartlessness; +and, besides, unless a man is downright +angry he can scarcely feel that he has +really cleared himself when he has done nothing +more than to point the finger and say, You're +another. However, I am not set for the defence +of ornithologists. They are abundantly able to +take care of themselves without the help of any +outsider. I only declare that, even to my unprofessional +eye, this rule of theirs seems wise +and necessary. They know, if their critics do +not, how easy it is to be deceived; how many +times things have been seen and minutely described, +which, as was afterwards established, +could not by any possibility have been visible. +Moreover, regret it as we may, it is clear that in +this world nobody can escape giving and taking +more or less pain. We of the sterner sex are +accustomed to think that even our blue-eyed +censors are not entirely innocent in this regard; +albeit, for myself, I am bound to believe that +generally they are not to blame for the tortures +they inflict upon us.</p> + +<p>Granting the righteousness of the scientist's +caution, however, we may still find a less rigorous +code sufficient for our own non-scientific, +though I hope not unscientific, purpose. For it +is certain that no great enjoyment of bird study<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +is possible for some of us, if we are never to be +allowed to call our gentle friends by name until +in every case we have gone through the formality +of a <i>post-mortem</i> examination. Practically, +and for every-day ends, we may know a +robin, or a redstart, or even a hermit thrush, +when we see him, without first turning the bird +into a specimen.</p> + +<p>Probably there are none of our birds which +afford more surprise and pleasure to a novice +than the family of warblers. A well-known +ornithologist has related how one day he wandered +into the forest in an idle mood, and accidentally +catching a gleam of bright color overhead, +raised his gun and brought the bird to his +feet; and how excited and charmed he was with +the wondrous beauty of his little trophy. Were +there other birds in the woods as lovely as this? +He would see for himself. And that was the +beginning of what bids fair to prove a life-long +enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>Thirty-eight warblers are credited to New +England; but it would be safe to say that not +more than three of them are known to the +average New-Englander. How should he know +them, indeed? They do not come about the +flower-garden like the humming-bird, nor about +the lawn like the robin; neither can they be +hunted with a dog like the grouse and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +woodcock. Hence, for all their gorgeous apparel, +they are mainly left to students and +collectors. Of our common species the most +beautiful are, perhaps, the blue yellow-back, +the blue golden-wing, the Blackburnian, the +black-and-yellow, the Canada flycatcher, and +the redstart; with the yellow-rump, the black-throated +green, the prairie warbler, the summer +yellow-bird, and the Maryland yellow-throat +coming not far behind. But all of them +are beautiful, and they possess, besides, the +charm of great diversity of plumage and habits; +while some of them have the further merit, +by no means inconsiderable, of being rare.</p> + +<p>It was a bright day for me when the blue +golden-winged warbler settled in my neighborhood. +On my morning walk I detected a new +song, and, following it up, found a new bird,—a +result which is far from being a thing +of course. The spring migration was at its +height, and at first I expected to have the +pleasure of my new friend's society for only +a day or two; so I made the most of it. But +it turned out that he and his companion had +come to spend the summer, and before very long +I discovered their nest. This was still unfinished +when I came upon it; but I knew pretty +well whose it was, having several times noticed +the birds about the spot, and a few days after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>wards +the female bravely sat still, while I bent +over her, admiring her courage and her handsome +dress. I paid my respects to the little +mother almost daily, but jealously guarded her +secret, sharing it only with a kind-hearted +woman, whom I took with me on one of my +visits. But, alas! one day I called, only to +find the nest empty. Whether the villain who +pillaged it traveled on two legs, or on four, I +never knew. Possibly he dropped out of the +air. But I wished him no good, whoever he +was. Next year the birds appeared again, and +more than one pair of them; but no nest could +I find, though I often looked for it, and, as +children say in their games, was sometimes very +warm.</p> + +<p>Is there any lover of birds in whose mind +certain birds and certain places are not indissolubly +joined? Most of us, I am sure, could +go over the list and name the exact spots +where we first saw this one, where we first +heard that one sing, and where we found +our first nest of the other. There is a piece +of swampy woodland in Jefferson, New Hampshire, +midway between the hotels and the railway +station, which, for me, will always be associated +with the song of the winter wren. I +had been making an attempt to explore the +wood, with a view to its botanical treasures,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +but the mosquitoes had rallied with such spirit +that I was glad to beat a retreat to the road. +Just then an unseen bird broke out into a song, +and by the time he had finished I was saying to +myself, A winter wren! Now, if I could only +see him in the act, and so be sure of the correctness +of my guess! I worked to that end as +cautiously as possible, but all to no purpose; +and finally I started abruptly toward the spot +whence the sound had come, expecting to see +the bird fly. But apparently there was no bird +there, and I stood still, in a little perplexity. +Then, all at once, the wren appeared, hopping +about among the dead branches, within a few +yards of my feet, and peering at the intruder +with evident curiosity; and the next moment +he was joined by a hermit thrush, equally inquisitive. +Both were silent as dead men, but +plainly had no doubt whatever that they were +in their own domain, and that it belonged to +the other party to move away. I presumed +that the thrush, at least, had a nest not far off, +but after a little search (the mosquitoes were +still active) I concluded not to intrude further +on his domestic privacy. I had heard the +wren's famous song, and it had not been over-praised. +But then came the inevitable second +thought: had I really heard it? True, the +music possessed the wren characteristics, and a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +winter wren was in the brush; but what proof +had I that the bird and the song belonged together? +No; I must see him in the act of +singing. But this, I found, was more easily +said than done. In Jefferson, in Gorham, in +the Franconia Notch, in short, wherever I +went, there was no difficulty about hearing the +music, and little about seeing the wren; but it +was provoking that eye and ear could never +be brought to bear witness to the same bird. +However, this difficulty was not insuperable, +and after it was once overcome I was in the +habit of witnessing the whole performance +almost as often as I wished.</p> + +<p>Of similar interest to me is a turn in an old +Massachusetts road, over which, boy and man, +I have traveled hundreds of times; one of those +delightful back-roads, half road and half lane, +where the grass grows between the horse-track +and the wheel-track, while bushes usurp what +ought to be the sidewalk. Here, one morning +in the time when every day was disclosing two +or three new species for my delight, I stopped +to listen to some bird of quite unsuspected +identity, who was calling and singing and scolding +in the Indian brier thicket, making, in truth, +a prodigious racket. I twisted and turned, and +was not a little astonished when at last I detected +the author of all this outcry. From a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +study of the manual I set him down as probably +the white-eyed vireo,—a conjecture which +further investigation confirmed. This vireo is +the very prince of stump-speakers,—fluent, +loud, and sarcastic,—and is well called the +politician, though it is a disappointment to learn +that the title was given him, not for his eloquence, +but on account of his habit of putting +pieces of newspaper into his nest. While I +stood peering into the thicket, a man whom I +knew came along the road, and caught me thus +disreputably employed. Without doubt he +thought me a lazy good-for-nothing; or possibly +(being more charitable) he said to himself, +"Poor fellow! he's losing his mind."</p> + +<p>Take a gun on your shoulder, and go wandering +about the woods all day long, and you +will be looked upon with respect, no matter +though you kill nothing bigger than a chipmunk; +or stand by the hour at the end of a +fishing-pole, catching nothing but mosquito-bites, +and your neighbors will think no ill of +you. But to be seen staring at a bird for five +minutes together, or picking roadside weeds!—well, +it is fortunate there are asylums for the +crazy. Not unlikely the malady will grow upon +him; and who knows how soon he may become +dangerous? Something must be wrong about +that to which we are unaccustomed. Blowing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +out the brains of rabbits and squirrels is an +innocent and delightful pastime, as everybody +knows; and the delectable excitement of pulling +half-grown fishes out of the pond to perish +miserably on the bank, that, too, is a recreation +easily enough appreciated. But what shall be +said of enjoying birds without killing them, or +of taking pleasure in plants, which, so far as we +know, cannot suffer even if we do kill them?</p> + +<p>Of my many pleasant associations of birds +with places, one of the pleasantest is connected +with the red-headed woodpecker. This showy +bird has for a good many years been very rare +in Massachusetts; and therefore, when, during +the freshness of my ornithological researches, I +went to Washington for a month's visit, it was +one of the things which I had especially in +mind, to make his acquaintance. But I looked +for him without success, till, at the end of a +fortnight, I made a pilgrimage to Mount Vernon. +Here, after visiting the grave, and going +over the house, as every visitor does, I sauntered +about the grounds, thinking of the great +man who used to do the same so many years +before, but all the while keeping my eyes open +for the present feathered inhabitants of the sacred +spot. Soon a bird dashed by me, and +struck against the trunk of an adjacent tree, +and glancing up quickly, I beheld my much-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>sought +red-headed woodpecker. How appropriately +patriotic he looked, at the home of +Washington, wearing the national colors,—red, +white, and blue! After this he became abundant +about the capital, so that I saw him often, +and took much pleasure in his frolicsome ways; +and, some years later, he suddenly appeared in +force in the vicinity of Boston, where he remained +through the winter months. To my +thought, none the less, he will always suggest +Mount Vernon. Indeed, although he is certainly +rather jovial, and even giddy, he is to me +the bird of Washington much more truly than +is the solemn, stupid-seeming eagle, who commonly +bears that name.</p> + +<p>To go away from home, even if the journey +be no longer than from Massachusetts to the +District of Columbia, is sure to prove an event +of no small interest to a young naturalist; and +this visit of mine to the national capital was no +exception. On the afternoon of my arrival, +walking up Seventh Street, I heard a series of +loud, clear, monotonous whistles, which I had +then no leisure to investigate, but the author +of which I promised myself the satisfaction of +meeting at another time. In fact, I think it +was at least a fortnight before I learned that +these whistles came from the tufted titmouse. +I had been seeing him almost daily, but till<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +then he had never chanced to use that particular +note while under my eye.</p> + +<p>There was a certain tract of country, woodland +and pasture, over which I roamed a good +many times, and which is still clearly mapped +out in my memory. Here I found my first +Carolina or mocking wren, who ran in at one +side of a woodpile and came out at the other as +I drew near, and who, a day or two afterwards, +sang so loudly from an oak tree that I ransacked +it with my eye in search of some large bird, +and was confounded when finally I discovered +who the musician really was. Here, every day, +were to be heard the glorious song of the cardinal +grosbeak, the insect-like effort of the blue-gray +gnatcatcher, and the rigmarole of the yellow-breasted +chat. On a wooded hillside, +where grew a profusion of trailing arbutus, +pink azalea, and bird-foot violets, the rowdyish, +great-crested flycatchers were screaming in +the tree-tops. In this same grove I twice saw +the rare red-bellied woodpecker, who, on both +occasions, after rapping smartly with his beak, +turned his head and laid his ear against the +trunk, evidently listening to see whether his +alarm had set any grub a-stirring. Near by, +in an undergrowth, I fell in with a few worm-eating +warblers. They seemed of a peculiarly +unsuspicious turn of mind, and certainly wore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +the quaintest of head-dresses. I must mention +also a scarlet tanager, who, all afire as he was, +one day alighted in a bush of flowering dogwood, +which was completely covered with its +large white blossoms. Probably he had no idea +how well his perch became him.</p> + +<p>Perhaps I ought to be ashamed to confess it, +but, though I went several times into the galleries +of our honorable Senate and House of +Representatives, and heard speeches by some +celebrated men, including at least half a dozen +candidates for the presidency, yet, after all, +the congressmen in feathers interested me +most. I thought, indeed, that the chat might +well enough have been elected to the lower +house. His volubility and waggish manners +would have made him quite at home in that +assembly, while his orange-colored waistcoat +would have given him an agreeable conspicuity. +But, to be sure, he would have needed to learn +the use of tobacco.</p> + +<p>Well, all this was only a few years ago; but +the men whose eloquence then drew the crowd +to the capitol are, many of them, heard there +no longer. Some are dead; some have retired +to private life. But the birds never die. Every +spring they come trooping back for their all-summer +session. The turkey-buzzard still floats +majestically over the city; the chat still prac<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>tices +his lofty tumbling in the suburban pastures, +snarling and scolding at all comers; the +flowing Potomac still yields "a blameless +sport" to the fish-crow and the kingfisher; the +orchard oriole continues to whistle in front of +the Agricultural Department, and the crow +blackbird to parade back and forth over the +Smithsonian lawns. Presidents and senators +may come and go, be praised and vilified, and +then in turn forgotten; but the birds are subject +to no such mutations. It is a foolish +thought, but sometimes their happy carelessness +seems the better part.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="MINOR_SONGSTERS" id="MINOR_SONGSTERS"></a>MINOR SONGSTERS.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The lesser lights, the dearer still<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That they elude a vulgar eye.<br /></span> +<span class="signature_2">Browning.</span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i10">Listen too,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How every pause is filled with under-notes.<br /></span> +<span class="signature">Shelley.</span> +</div></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> +<p> </p> + + +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>MINOR SONGSTERS.</p> + + +<p>Among those of us who are in the habit of +attending to bird-songs, there can hardly be +anybody, I think, who has not found himself +specially and permanently attracted by the music +of certain birds who have little or no general +reputation. Our favoritism may perhaps +be the result of early associations: we heard the +singer first in some uncommonly romantic spot, +or when we were in a mood of unusual sensibility; +and, in greater or less degree, the charm of +that hour is always renewed for us with the +repetition of the song. Or if may be (who will +assert the contrary?) that there is some occult +relation between the bird's mind and our own. +Or, once more, something may be due to the natural +pleasure which amiable people take (and +all lovers of birds may be supposed, <i>a priori</i>, to +belong to that class) in paying peculiar honor +to merit which the world at large, less discriminating +than they, has thus far failed to recognize, +and in which, therefore, as by "right of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +discovery," they have a sort of proprietary interest. +This, at least, is evident: our preference +is not determined altogether by the intrinsic +worth of the song; the mind is active, not passive, +and gives to the music something from itself,—"the +consecration and the poet's dream."</p> + +<p>Furthermore, it is to be said that a singer—and +a bird no less than a man—may be wanting +in that fullness and scope of voice and that +large measure of technical skill which are absolutely +essential to the great artist, properly so +called, and yet, within his own limitations, may +be competent to please even the most fastidious +ear. It is with birds as with other poets: the +smaller gift need not be the less genuine; and +they whom the world calls greatest, and whom +we ourselves most admire, may possibly not be +the ones who touch us most intimately, or to +whom we return oftenest and with most delight.</p> + +<p>This may be well illustrated by a comparison +of the chickadee with the brown thrush. The +thrush, or, as he is sometimes profanely styled, +the thrasher, is the most pretentious, perhaps I +ought to say the greatest, of New England songsters, +if we rule out the mocking-bird, who is so +very rare with us as scarcely to come into the +competition; and still, in my opinion, his singing +seldom produces the effect of really fine +music. With all his ability, which is nothing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +short of marvelous, his taste is so deplorably +uncertain, and his passion so often becomes a +downright frenzy, that the excited listener, +hardly knowing what to think, laughs and shouts. +Bravo! by turns. Something must be amiss, +certainly, when the deepest feelings of the heart +are poured forth in a manner to suggest the performance +of a <i>buffo</i>. The chickadee, on the +other hand, seldom gets mention as a singer. +Probably he never looked upon himself as such. +You will not find him posing at the top of a +tree, challenging the world to listen and admire. +But, as he hops from twig to twig in quest of +insects' eggs and other dainties, his merry spirits +are all the time bubbling over in little chirps +and twitters, with now and then a <i>Chickadee, +dee</i>, or a <i>Hear, hear me</i>, every least syllable of +which is like "the very sound of happy +thoughts." For my part, I rate such trifles with +the best of all good music, and feel that we +cannot be grateful enough to the brave tit, who +furnishes us with them for the twelve months +of every year.</p> + +<p>So far as the chickadee is concerned, I see +nothing whatever to wish different; but am +glad to believe that, for my day and long after, +he will remain the same unassuming, careless-hearted +creature that he now is. If I may be +allowed the paradox, it would be too bad for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +him to change, even for the better. But the +bluebird, who like the titmouse is hardly to be +accounted a musician, does seem to be somewhat +blameworthy. Once in a while, it is true, +he takes a perch and sings; but for the most +part he is contented with a few simple notes, +having no semblance of a tune. Possibly he +holds that his pure contralto voice (I do not remember +ever to have heard from him any note +of a soprano, or even of a mezzo-soprano quality) +ought by itself to be a sufficient distinction; but +I think it likelier that his slight attempt at +music is only one manifestation of the habitual +reserve which, more than anything else perhaps, +may be said to characterize him. How +differently he and the robin impress us in this +particular! Both take up their abode in our +door-yards and orchards; the bluebird goes so +far, indeed, as to accept our hospitality outright, +building his nest in boxes put up for his accommodation, +and making the roofs of our houses +his favorite perching stations. But, while the +robin is noisily and jauntily familiar, the bluebird +maintains a dignified aloofness; coming and +going about the premises, but keeping his +thoughts to himself, and never becoming one of +us save by the mere accident of local proximity. +The robin, again, loves to travel in large flocks, +when household duties are over for the season;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +but although the same has been reported of the +bluebird, I have never myself seen such a thing, +and am satisfied that, as a rule, this gentle spirit +finds a family party of six or seven company +enough. His reticence, as we cheerfully admit, +is nothing to quarrel with; it is all well-bred, +and not in the least unkindly; in fact, we like +it, on the whole, rather better than the robin's +pertness and garrulity; but, none the less, its +natural consequence is that the bird has small +concern for musical display. When he sings, +it is not to gain applause, but to express his affection; +and while, in one aspect of the case, +there is nothing out of the way in this,—since +his affection need not be the less deep and true +because it is told in few words and with unadorned +phrase,—yet, as I said to begin with, +it is hard not to feel that the world is being defrauded, +when for any reason, however amiable, +the possessor of such a matchless voice has no +ambition to make the most of it.</p> + +<p>It is always a double pleasure to find a plodding, +humdrum-seeming man with a poet's heart +in his breast; and a little of the same delighted +surprise is felt by every one, I imagine, when +he learns for the first time that our little brown +creeper is a singer. What life could possibly +be more prosaic than his? Day after day, year +in and out, he creeps up one tree-trunk after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +another, pausing only to peer right and left +into the crevices of the bark, in search of microscopic +tidbits. A most irksome sameness, +surely! How the poor fellow must envy the +swallows, who live on the wing, and, as it were, +have their home in heaven! So it is easy for +us to think; but I doubt whether the creeper +himself is troubled with such suggestions. He +seems, to say the least, as well contented as the +most of us; and, what is more, I am inclined to +doubt whether any except "free moral agents," +like ourselves, are ever wicked enough to find +fault with the orderings of Divine Providence. +I fancy, too, that we may have exaggerated the +monotony of the creeper's lot. It can scarcely +be that even his days are without their occasional +pleasurable excitements. After a good +many trees which yield little or nothing for his +pains, he must now and then light upon one +which is like Canaan after the wilderness,—"a +land flowing with milk and honey." Indeed, +the longer I think of it the more confident +I feel that every aged creeper must have +had sundry experiences of this sort, which he +is never weary of recounting for the edification +of his nephews and nieces, who, of course, are +far too young to have anything like the wide +knowledge of the world which their venerable +three-years-old uncle possesses. <i>Certhia</i> works<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +all day for his daily bread; and yet even of +him it is true that "the life is more than meat." +He has his inward joys, his affectionate delights, +which no outward infelicity can touch. +A bird who thinks nothing of staying by his +nest and his mate at the sacrifice of his life is +not to be written down a dullard or a drudge, +merely because his dress is plain and his occupation +unromantic. He has a right to sing, for +he has something within him to inspire the +strain.</p> + +<p>There are descriptions of the creeper's music +which liken it to a wren's. I am sorry that +I have myself heard it only on one occasion: +then, however, so far was it from being wren-like +that it might rather have been the work of +one of the less proficient warblers,—a somewhat +long opening note followed by a hurried +series of shorter ones, the whole given in a +sharp, thin voice, and having nothing to recommend +it to notice, considered simply as music. +All the while the bird kept on industriously +with his journey up the tree; and it is not in +the least unlikely that he may have another +and better song, which he reserves for times of +more leisure.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> + +<p>Our American wood-warblers are all to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +classed among the minor songsters; standing +in this respect in strong contrast with the true +Old World warblers, of whose musical capacity +enough, perhaps, is said when it is mentioned +that the nightingale is one of them. But, comparisons +apart, our birds are by no means to be +despised, and not a few of their songs have a +good degree of merit. That of the well-known +summer yellow-bird may be taken as fairly representative +of the entire group, being neither +one of the best nor one of the poorest. He, I +have noticed, is given to singing late in the +day. Three of the New England species have +at the same time remarkably rough voices and +black throats,—I mean the black-throated +blue, the black-throated green, and the blue +golden-wing,—and seeing that the first two +are of the genus <i>Dendrœca</i>, while the last is +a <i>Helminthophaga</i>, I have allowed myself to +query (half in earnest) whether they may not, +possibly, be more nearly related than the systematists +have yet discovered. Several of the +warbler songs are extremely odd. The blue +yellow-back's, for example, is a brief, hoarse, +upward run,—a kind of scale exercise; and if +the practice of such things be really as beneficial +as music teachers affirm, it would seem +that this little beauty must in time become a +vocalist of the first order. Nearly the same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +might be said of the prairie warbler; but his +<i>étude</i> is a little longer and less hurried, besides +being in a higher key. I do not call to mind +any bird who sings a downward scale. Having +before spoken of the tendency of warblers to +learn two or even three set tunes, I was the +more interested when, last summer, I added +another to my list of the species which aspire +to this kind of liberal education. It was on the +side of Mount Clinton that I heard two Blackburnians, +both in full sight and within a few +rods of each other, who were singing two entirely +distinct songs. One of these—it is the +common one, I think—ended quaintly with +three or four short notes, like <i>zip</i>, <i>zip</i>, <i>zip;</i> +while the other was not unlike a fraction of the +winter wren's melody. Those who are familiar +with the latter bird will perhaps recognize the +phrase referred to if I call it the <i>willie, willie, +winkie,</i>—with a triple accent on the first syllable +of the last word. Most of the songs of +this family are rather slight, but the extremest +case known to me is that of the black-poll +(<i>Dendrœca striata</i>), whose <i>zee, zee, zee</i> is almost +ridiculously faint. You may hear it continually +in the higher spruce forests of the +White Mountains; but you will look a good +many times before you discover its author, and +not improbably will begin by taking it for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +call of the kinglet. The music of the bay-breasted +warbler is similar to the black-poll's, +but hardly so weak and formless. It seems +reasonable to believe not only that these two +species are descended from a common ancestry, +but that the divergence is of a comparatively +recent date: even now the young of the year +can be distinguished only with great difficulty, +although the birds in full feather are clearly +enough marked.</p> + +<p>Warblers' songs are often made up of two +distinct portions: one given deliberately, the +other hurriedly and with a concluding flourish. +Indeed, the same may be said of bird-songs generally,—those +of the song sparrow, the bay-winged +bunting, and the wood thrush being +familiar examples. Yet there are many singers +who attempt no climax of this sort, but +make their music to consist of two, or three, or +more parts, all alike. The Maryland yellow-throat, +for instance, cries out over and over, +"What a pity, what a pity, what a pity!" So, +at least, he seems to say; though, I confess, it +is more than likely I mistake the words, since +the fellow never appears to be feeling badly, +but, on the contrary, delivers his message with +an air of cordial satisfaction. The song of the +pine-creeping warbler is after still another fashion,—one +simple short trill. It is musical and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +sweet; the more so for coming almost always +out of a pine-tree.</p> + +<p>The vireos, or greenlets, are akin to the warblers +in appearance and habits, and like them +are peculiar to the western continent. We have +no birds that are more unsparing of their music +(prodigality is one of the American virtues, +we are told): they sing from morning till +night, and—some of them, at least—continue +thus till the very end of the season. It is +worth mentioning, however, that the red-eye +makes a short day; becoming silent just at the +time when the generality of birds grow most +noisy. Probably the same is true of the rest +of the family, but on that point I am not prepared +to speak with positiveness. Of the five +New England species (I omit the brotherly-love +greenlet, never having been fortunate enough +to know him) the white-eye is decidedly the +most ambitious, the warbling and the solitary +are the most pleasing, while the red-eye and +the yellow-throat are very much alike, and both +of them rather too monotonous and persistent. +It is hard, sometimes, not to get out of patience +with the red-eye's ceaseless and noisy iteration +of his trite theme; especially if you are doing +your utmost to catch the notes of some rarer +and more refined songster. In my note-book I +find an entry describing my vain attempts to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +enjoy the music of a rose-breasted grosbeak,—who +at that time had never been a common +bird with me,—while "a pesky Wagnerian +red-eye kept up an incessant racket."</p> + +<p>The warbling vireo is admirably named; +there is no one of our birds that can more properly +be said to warble. He keeps further from +the ground than the others, and shows a strong +preference for the elms of village streets, out of +which his delicious music drops upon the ears +of all passers underneath. How many of them +hear it and thank the singer is unhappily another +question.</p> + +<p>The solitary vireo may once in a while be +heard in a roadside tree, chanting as familiarly +as any red-eye; but he is much less abundant +than the latter, and, as a rule, more retiring. +His ordinary song is like the red-eye's and the +yellow-throat's, except that it is pitched somewhat +higher and has a peculiar inflection or cadence, +which on sufficient acquaintance becomes +quite unmistakable. This, however, is only the +smallest part of his musical gift. One morning +in May, while strolling through a piece of thick +woods, I came upon a bird of this species, who, +all alone like myself, was hopping from one low +branch to another, and every now and then +breaking out into a kind of soliloquizing song,—a +musical chatter, shifting suddenly to an in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>tricate, +low-voiced warble. Later in the same +day I found another in a chestnut grove. This +last was in a state of quite unwonted fervor, +and sang almost continuously; now in the usual +disconnected vireo manner, and now with a +chatter and warble like what I had heard in the +morning, but louder and longer. His best efforts +ended abruptly with the ordinary vireo +call, and the instantaneous change of voice gave +to the whole a very strange effect. The chatter +and warble appeared to be related to each +other precisely as are those of the ruby-crowned +kinglet; while the warble had a certain tender, +affectionate, some would say plaintive quality, +which at once put me in mind of the goldfinch.</p> + +<p>I have seldom been more charmed with the +song of any bird than I was on the 7th of last +October with that of this same <i>Vireo solitarius</i>. +The morning was bright and warm, but the +birds had nearly all taken their departure, and +the few that remained were silent. Suddenly +the stillness was broken by a vireo note, and I +said to myself with surprise, A red-eye? Listening +again, however, I detected the solitary's +inflection; and after a few moments the bird, +in the most obliging manner, came directly towards +me, and began to warble in the fashion +already described. He sang and sang,—as if +his song could have no ending,—and mean<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>while +was flitting from tree to tree, intent upon +his breakfast. As far as I could discover, he +was without company; and his music, too, +seemed to be nothing more than an unpremeditated, +half-unconscious talking to himself. +Wonderfully sweet it was, and full of the happiest +content. "I listened till I had my fill," +and returned the favor, as best I could, by hoping +that the little wayfarer's lightsome mood +would not fail him, all the way to Guatemala +and back again.</p> + +<p>Exactly a month before this, and not far from +the same spot, I had stood for some minutes to +enjoy the "recital" of the solitary's saucy +cousin, the white-eye. Even at that time, although +the woods were swarming with birds,—many +of them travelers from the North,—this +white-eye was nearly the only one still in song. +He, however, was fairly brimming over with +music; changing his tune again and again, and +introducing (for the first time in Weymouth, as +concert programmes say) a notably fine shake. +Like the solitary, he was all the while busily +feeding (birds in general, and vireos in particular, +hold with Mrs. Browning that we may +"prove our work the better for the sweetness of +our song"), and one while was exploring a poison-dogwood +bush, plainly without the slightest +fear of any ill-result. It occurred to me that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +possibly it is our fault, and not that of <i>Rhus +venenata</i>, when we suffer from the touch of that +graceful shrub.</p> + +<p>The white-eyed greenlet is a vocalist of such +extraordinary versatility and power that one +feels almost guilty in speaking of him under the +title which stands at the head of this paper. +How he would scold, out-carlyling Carlyle, if he +knew what were going on! Nevertheless I cannot +rank him with the great singers, exceptionally +clever and original as, beyond all dispute, +he is; and for that matter, I look upon the solitary +as very much his superior, in spite of—or, +shall I say, because of?—the latter's greater +simplicity and reserve.</p> + +<p>But if we hesitate thus about these two inconspicuous +vireos, whom half of those who do +them the honor to read what is here said about +them will have never seen, how are we to deal +with the scarlet tanager? Our handsomest +bird, and with musical aspirations as well, shall +we put him into the second class? It must be +so, I fear: yet such justice is a trial to the +flesh; for what critic could ever quite leave out +of account the beauty of a <i>prima donna</i> in passing +judgment on her work? Does not her angelic +face sing to his eye, as Emerson says?</p> + +<p>Formerly I gave the tanager credit for only +one song,—the one which suggests a robin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +laboring under an attack of hoarseness; but I +have discovered that he himself regards his <i>chip-cherr</i> +as of equal value. At least, I have found +him perched at the tip of a tall pine, and repeating +this inconsiderable and not very melodious +trochee with all earnestness and perseverance. +Sometimes he rehearses it thus at nightfall; +but even so I cannot call it highly artistic. +I am glad to believe, however, that he does not +care in the least for my opinion. Why should +he? He is too true a gallant to mind what +anybody else thinks, so long as <i>one</i> is pleased; +and she, no doubt, tells him every day that he +is the best singer in the grove. Beside his divine +<i>chip-cherr</i> the rhapsody of the wood thrush +is a mere nothing, if she is to be the judge. +Strange, indeed, that so shabbily dressed a +creature as this thrush should have the presumption +to attempt to sing at all! "But +then," she charitably adds, "perhaps he is not +to blame; such things come by nature; and +there are some birds, you know, who cannot tell +the difference between noise and music."</p> + +<p>We trust that the tanager will improve as +time goes on; but in any case we are largely in +his debt. How we should miss him if he were +gone, or even were become as rare as the summer +red-bird and the cardinal are in our latitude! +As it is, he lights up our Northern woods<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> +with a truly tropical splendor, the like of which +no other of our birds can furnish. Let us hold +him in hearty esteem, and pray that he may +never be exterminated; no, not even to beautify +the head-gear of our ladies, who, if they +only knew it, are already sufficiently bewitching.</p> + +<p>What shall we say now about the lesser +lights of that most musical family, the finches? +Of course the cardinal and rose-breasted grosbeaks +are not to be included in any such category. +Nor will <i>I</i> put there the goldfinch, the +linnet, the fox-colored sparrow, and the song +sparrow. These, if no more, shall stand among +the immortals; so far, at any rate, as my suffrage +counts. But who ever dreamed of calling +the chipping sparrow a fine singer? And yet, +who that knows it does not love his earnest, +long-drawn trill, dry and tuneless as it is? I +can speak for one, at all events; and he always +has an ear open for it by the middle of April. +It is the voice of a friend,—a friend so true +and gentle and confiding that we do not care to +ask whether his voice be smooth and his speech +eloquent.</p> + +<p>The chipper's congener, the field sparrow, +is less neighborly than he, but a much better +musician. His song is simplicity itself; yet, +even at its lowest estate, it never fails of being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +truly melodious, while by one means and another +its wise little author contrives to impart +to it a very considerable variety, albeit within +pretty narrow limits. Last spring the field +sparrows were singing constantly from the middle +of April till about the 10th of May, when +they became entirely dumb. Then, after a +week in which I heard not a note, they again +grew musical. I pondered not a little over +their silence, but concluded that they were just +then very much occupied with preparations for +housekeeping.</p> + +<p>The bird who is called indiscriminately the +grass finch, the bay-winged bunting, the bay-winged +sparrow, the vesper sparrow, and I know +not what else (the ornithologists have nicknamed +him <i>Poœcetes gramineus</i>), is a singer +of good parts, but is especially to be commended +for his refinement. In form his music +is strikingly like the song sparrow's; but the +voice is not so loud and ringing, and the two +or three opening notes are less sharply emphasized. +In general the difference between the +two songs may perhaps be well expressed by +saying that the one is more declamatory, the +other more <i>cantabile</i>; a difference exactly such +as we might have expected, considering the nervous, +impetuous disposition of the song sparrow +and the placidity of the bay-wing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> + +<p>As one of his titles indicates, the bay-wing +is famous for singing in the evening, when, of +course, his efforts are doubly acceptable; and I +can readily believe that Mr. Minot is correct in +his "impression" that he has once or twice +heard the song in the night. For while spending +a few days at a New Hampshire hotel, +which was surrounded with fine lawns such as +the grass finch delights in, I happened to be +awake in the morning, long before sunrise,—when, +in fact, it seemed like the dead of night,—and +one or two of these sparrows were piping +freely. The sweet and gentle strain had +the whole mountain valley to itself. How +beautiful it was, set in such a broad "margin +of silence," I must leave to be imagined. I +noticed, moreover, that the birds sang almost +incessantly the whole day through. Much of +the time there were two singing antiphonally. +Manifestly, the lines had fallen to them in +pleasant places: at home for the summer in +those luxuriant Sugar-Hill fields, in continual +sight of yonder magnificent mountain panorama, +with Lafayette himself looming grandly +in the foreground; while they, innocent souls, +had never so much as heard of hotel-keepers +and their bills. "Happy commoners," indeed! +Their "songs in the night" seemed nowise surprising. +I fancied that I could be happy myself +in such a case.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> + +<p>Our familiar and ever-welcome snow-bird, +known in some quarters as the black chipping-bird, +and often called the black snow-bird, has +a long trill, not altogether unlike the common +chipper's, but in a much higher key. It is a +modest lay, yet doubtless full of meaning; for +the singer takes to the very tip of a tree, and +throws his head back in the most approved +style. He does his best, at any rate, and so far +ranks with the angels; while, if my testimony +can be of any service to him, I am glad to say +('t is too bad the praise is so equivocal) that I +have heard many human singers who gave me +less pleasure; and further, that he took an indispensable +though subordinate part in what +was one of the most memorable concerts at +which I was ever happy enough to be a listener. +This was given some years ago in an old apple-orchard +by a flock of fox-colored sparrows, who, +perhaps for that occasion only, had the "valuable +assistance" of a large choir of snow-birds. +The latter were twittering in every tree, while +to this goodly accompaniment the sparrows +were singing their loud, clear, thrush-like song. +The combination was felicitous in the extreme. +I would go a long way to hear the like again.</p> + +<p>If distinction cannot be attained by one means, +who knows but that it may be by another? It +is denied us to be great? Very well, we can at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +least try the effect of a little originality. Something +like this seems to be the philosophy of the +indigo-bird; and he carries it out both in dress +and in song. As we have said already, it is usual +for birds to reserve the loudest and most taking +parts of their music for the close, though it may +be doubted whether they have any intelligent +purpose in so doing. Indeed, the apprehension +of a great general truth such as lies at the basis +of this well-nigh universal habit,—the truth, +namely, that everything depends upon the impression +finally left on the hearer's mind; that +to end with some grand burst, or with some +surprisingly lofty note, is the only, or to speak +cautiously, the principal, requisite to a really +great musical performance,—the intelligent +grasp of such a truth as this, I say, seems to me +to lie beyond the measure of a bird's capacity +in the present stage of his development. Be +this as it may, however, it is noteworthy that +the indigo-bird exactly reverses the common +plan. He begins at his loudest and sprightliest, +and then runs off into a <i>diminuendo</i>, which +fades into silence almost imperceptibly. The +strain will never be renowned for its beauty; +but it is unique, and, further, is continued well +into August. Moreover,—and this adds grace +to the most ordinary song,—it is often let fall +while the bird is on the wing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> + +<p>This eccentric genius has taken possession of +a certain hillside pasture, which, in another +way, belongs to me also. Year after year he +comes back and settles down upon it about the +middle of May; and I have often been amused +to see his mate—who is not permitted to wear +a single blue feather—drop out of her nest in +a barberry bush and go fluttering off, both +wings dragging helplessly through the grass. I +should pity her profoundly but that I am in no +doubt her injuries will rapidly heal when once +I am out of sight. Besides, I like to imagine +her beatitude, as, five minutes afterward, she +sits again upon the nest, with her heart's treasures +all safe underneath her. Many a time was +a boy of my acquaintance comforted in some +ache or pain with the words, "Never mind! +'t will feel better when it gets well;" and so, +sure enough, it always did. But what a wicked +world this is, where nature teaches even a bird +to play the deceiver!</p> + +<p>On the same hillside is always to be found the +chewink,—a creature whose dress and song are +so unlike those of the rest of his tribe that the +irreverent amateur is tempted to believe that, +for once, the men of science have made a mistake. +What has any finch to do with a call +like <i>cherawink</i>, or with such a three-colored +harlequin suit? But it is unsafe to judge ac<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>cording +to the outward appearance, in ornithology +as in other matters; and I have heard that +it is only those who are foolish as well as ignorant +who indulge in off-hand criticisms of wiser +men's conclusions. So let us call the towhee a +finch, and say no more about it.</p> + +<p>But whatever his lineage, it is plain that the +chewink is not a bird to be governed very strictly +by the traditions of the fathers. His usual song +is characteristic and pretty, yet he is so far +from being satisfied with it that he varies it continually +and in many ways, some of them sadly +puzzling to the student who is set upon telling +all the birds by their voices. I remember well +enough the morning I was inveigled through the +wet grass of two pastures—and that just as I +was shod for the city—by a wonderfully foreign +note, which filled me with lively anticipations +of a new bird, but which turned out to be +the work of a most innocent-looking towhee. It +was perhaps this same bird, or his brother, whom +I one day heard throwing in between his customary +<i>cherawinks</i> a profusion of <i>staccato</i> notes +of widely varying pitch, together with little volleys +of tinkling sounds such as his every-day +song concludes with. This medley was not laughable, +like the chat's, which it suggested, but it +had the same abrupt, fragmentary, and promiscuous +character. All in all, it was what I never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +should have expected from this paragon of self-possession.</p> + +<p>For self-control, as I have elsewhere said, is +Pipilo's strong point. One afternoon last summer +a young friend and I found ourselves, as we +suspected, near a chewink's nest, and at once +set out to see which of us should have the honor +of the discovery. We searched diligently, but +without avail, while the father-bird sat quietly +in a tree, calling with all sweetness and with +never a trace of anger or trepidation, <i>cherawink, +cherawink</i>. Finally we gave over the hunt, and +I began to console my companion and myself +for our disappointment by shaking in the face +of the bird a small tree which very conveniently +leaned toward the one in which he was perched. +By rather vigorous efforts I could make this pass +back and forth within a few inches of his bill; +but he utterly disdained to notice it, and kept +on calling as before. While we were laughing +at his impudence (<i>his</i> impudence!) the mother +suddenly appeared, with an insect in her beak, +and joined her voice to her husband's. I was +just declaring how cruel as well as useless it +was for us to stay, when she ungratefully gave +a ludicrous turn to what was intended for a very +sage and considerate remark, by dropping almost +at my feet, stepping upon the edge of her nest, +and offering the morsel to one of her young.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +We watched the little tableau admiringly (I had +never seen a prettier show of nonchalance), and +thanked our stars that we had been saved from +an involuntary slaughter of the innocents while +trampling all about the spot. The nest, which +we had tried so hard to find, was in plain sight, +concealed only by the perfect agreement of its +color with that of the dead pine-branches in the +midst of which it was placed. The shrewd birds +had somehow learned—by experience, perhaps, +like ourselves—that those who would escape +disagreeable and perilous conspicuity must conform +as closely as possible to the world around +them.</p> + +<p>According to my observation, the towhee is +not much given to singing after July; but he +keeps up his call, which is little less musical +than his song, till his departure in late September. +At that time of the year the birds collect +together in their favorite haunts; and I remember +my dog's running into the edge of a roadside +pasture among some cedar-trees, when there +broke out such a chorus of <i>cherawinks</i> that I +was instantly reminded of a swamp full of frogs +in April.</p> + +<p>After the tanager the Baltimore oriole (named +for Lord Baltimore, whose colors he wears) is +probably the most gorgeous, as he is certainly +one of the best known, of New England birds.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +He has discovered that men, bad as they are, +are less to be dreaded than hawks and weasels, +and so, after making sure that his wife is not +subject to sea-sickness, he swings his nest boldly +from a swaying shade-tree branch, in full view +of whoever may choose to look at it. Some +morning in May—not far from the 10th—you +will wake to hear him fifing in the elm before +your window. He has come in the night, and +is already making himself at home. Once I saw +a pair who on the very first morning had begun +to get together materials for a nest. His whistle +is one of the clearest and loudest, but he makes +little pretensions to music. I have been pleased +and interested, however, to see how tuneful he +becomes in August, after most other birds have +ceased to sing, and after a long interval of silence +on his own part. Early and late he pipes and +chatters, as if he imagined that the spring were +really coming back again forthwith. What the +explanation of this lyrical revival may be I have +never been able to gather; but the fact itself is +very noticeable, so that it would not be amiss to +call the "golden robin" the bird of August.</p> + +<p>The oriole's dusky relatives have the organs +of song well developed; and although most of +the species have altogether lost the art of music, +there are none of them, even now, that do not +betray more or less of the musical impulse. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> +red-winged blackbird, indeed, has some really +praiseworthy notes; and to me—for personal +reasons quite aside from any question about its +lyrical value—his rough <i>cucurree</i> is one of the +very pleasantest of sounds. For that matter, +however, there is no one of our birds—be he, +in technical language, "oscine" or "non-oscine"—whose +voice is not, in its own way, agreeable. +Except a few uncommonly superstitious people, +who does not enjoy the whip-poor-will's trisyllabic +exhortation, and the <i>yak</i> of the night-hawk? +Bob White's weather predictions, also, +have a wild charm all their own, albeit his +persistent <i>No more wet</i> is often sadly out of accord +with the farmer's hopes. We have no more +untuneful bird, surely, than the cow bunting; +yet even the serenades of this shameless polygamist +have one merit,—they are at least amusing. +With what infinite labor he brings forth his +forlorn, broken-winded whistle, while his tail +twitches convulsively, as if tail and larynx were +worked by the same spring!</p> + +<p>The judging, comparing spirit, the conscientious +dread of being ignorantly happy when a +broader culture would enable us to be intelligently +miserable,—this has its place, unquestionably, +in concert halls; but if we are to make +the best use of out-door minstrelsy, we must +learn to take things as we find them, throwing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +criticism to the winds. Having said which, I +am bound to go further still, and to acknowledge +that on looking back over the first part of this +paper I feel more than half ashamed of the +strictures therein passed upon the bluebird and +the brown thrush. When I heard the former's +salutation from a Boston Common elm on the +morning, of the 22d of February last, I said to +myself that no music, not even the nightingale's, +could ever be sweeter. Let him keep on, by all +means, in his own artless way, paying no heed +to what I have foolishly written about his shortcomings. +As for the thrasher's smile-provoking +gutturals, I recall that even in the symphonies +of the greatest of masters there are here and +there quaint bassoon phrases, which have, and +doubtless were intended to have, a somewhat +whimsical effect; and remembering this, I am +ready to own that I was less wise than I thought +myself when I found so much fault with the +thrush's performance. I have sins enough to +answer for: may this never be added to them, +that I set up my taste against that of Beethoven +and <i>Harporhynchus rufus</i>.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Since this was written I have heard the creeper sing a tune +very different from the one described above. <a href="#Page_227">See p. 227.</a></p></div> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="WINTER_BIRDS_ABOUT_BOSTON" id="WINTER_BIRDS_ABOUT_BOSTON"></a>WINTER BIRDS ABOUT BOSTON.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Not much to find, not much to see;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But the air was fresh, the path was free.<br /></span> +<span class="signature">W. Allingham.</span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>WINTER BIRDS ABOUT BOSTON.</p> + + +<p>A weed has been defined as a plant the use +of which is not yet discovered. If the definition +be correct there are few weeds. For the +researches of others beside human investigators +must be taken into the account. What we complacently +call the world below us is full of intelligence. +Every animal has a lore of its own; +not one of them but is—what the human +scholar is more and more coming to be—a specialist. +In these days the most eminent botanists +are not ashamed to compare notes with +the insects, since it turns out that these bits of +animate wisdom long ago anticipated some of +the latest improvements of our modern systematists.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> +We may see the red squirrel eating,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +with real epicurean zest, mushrooms, the white +and tender flesh of which we have ourselves +looked at longingly, but have never dared to +taste. How amused he would be (I fear he +would even be rude enough to snicker) were +you to caution him against poison! As if <i>Sciurus +Hudsonius</i> didn't know what he were +about! Why should men be so provincial as +to pronounce anything worthless merely because +<i>they</i> can do nothing with it? The clover is not +without value, although the robin and the oriole +may agree to think so. We know better; +and so do the rabbits and the humblebees. The +wise respect their own quality wherever they +see it, and are thankful for a good hint from no +matter what quarter. Here is a worthy neighbor +of mine whom I hear every summer complaining +of the chicory plants which disfigure +the roadside in front of her windows. She +wishes they were exterminated, every one of +them. And they are homely, there is no denying +it, for all the beauty of their individual +sky-blue flowers. No wonder a neat housewife +finds them an eyesore. But I never pass the +spot in August (I do not pass it at all after +that) without seeing that hers is only one side +of the story. My approach is sure to startle +a few goldfinches (and they too are most estimable +neighbors), to whom these scraggy herbs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +are quite as useful as my excellent lady's apple-trees +and pear-trees are to her. I watch them +as they circle about in musical undulations, and +then drop down again to finish their repast; +and I perceive that, in spite of its unsightliness, +the chicory is not a weed,—its use has +been discovered.</p> + +<p>In truth, the lover of birds soon ceases to +feel the uncomeliness of plants of this sort; he +even begins to have a peculiar and kindly interest +in them. A piece of "waste ground," as +it is called, an untidy garden, a wayside thicket +of golden-rods and asters, pig-weed and evening +primrose,—these come to be almost as +attractive a sight to him as a thrifty field of +wheat is to an agriculturalist. Taking his cue +from the finches, he separates plants into two +grand divisions,—those that shed their seeds +in the fall, and those that hold them through +the winter. The latter, especially if they are +of a height to overtop a heavy snow-fall, are +friends in need to his clients; and he is certain +to have marked a few places within the range +of his every-day walks where, thanks to somebody's +shiftlessness, perhaps, they have been +allowed to flourish.</p> + +<p>It is not many years since there were several +such winter gardens of the birds in Commonwealth +Avenue,—vacant house-lots overgrown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +with tall weeds. Hither cause flocks of goldfinches, +red-poll linnets, and snow buntings; +and thither I went to watch them. It happened, +I remember, that the last two species, +which are not to be met with in this region +every season, were unusually abundant during +the first or second year of my ornithological +enthusiasm. Great was the delight with which +I added them to the small but rapidly increasing +list of my feathered acquaintances.</p> + +<p>The red-polls and the goldfinches often travel +together, or at least are often to be found feeding +in company; and as they resemble each +other a good deal in size, general appearance, +and ways, the casual observer is very likely not +to discriminate between them. Only the summer +before the time of which I speak I had +spent a vacation at Mount Wachusett; and a +resident of Princeton, noticing my attention to +the birds (a taste so peculiar is not easily concealed), +had one day sought an interview with +me to inquire whether the "yellow-bird" did +not remain in Massachusetts through the winter. +I explained that we had two birds which +commonly went by that name and asked +whether he meant the one with a black forehead +and black wings and tail. Yes, he said, +that was the one. I assured him, of course, +that this bird, the goldfinch, did stay with us<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +all the year round, and that whoever had informed +him to the contrary must have understood +him to be speaking about the golden +warbler. He expressed his gratification, but +declared that he had really entertained no +doubt of the fact himself; he had often seen +the birds on the mountain when he had been +cutting wood there in midwinter. At such +times, he added, they were very tame, and +would come about his feet to pick up crumbs +while he was eating his dinner. Then he went +on to tell me that at that season of the year +their plumage took on more or less of a reddish +tinge: he had seen in the same flock some +with no trace of red, others that were slightly +touched with it, and others still of a really +bright color. At this I had nothing to say, +save that his red birds, whatever else they +were, could not have been goldfinches. But +next winter, when I saw the "yellow-birds" +and the red-poll linnets feeding together in +Commonwealth Avenue, I thought at once of +my Wachusett friend. Here was the very +scene he had so faithfully described,—some +of the flock with no red at all, some with red +crowns, and a few with bright carmine crowns +and breasts. They remained all winter, and +no doubt thought the farmers of Boston a very +good and wise set, to cultivate the evening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> +primrose so extensively. This plant, like the +succory, is of an ungraceful aspect; yet it has +sweet and beautiful blossoms, and as an herb +bearing seed is in the front rank. I doubt +whether we have any that surpass it, the birds +being judges.</p> + +<p>Many stories are told of the red-polls' fearlessness +and ready reconciliation to captivity, +as well as of their constancy to each other. I +have myself stood still in the midst of a flock, +until they were feeding round my feet so closely +that it looked easy enough to catch one or two +of them with a butterfly net. Strange that +creatures so gentle and seemingly so delicately +organized should choose to live in the regions +about the North Pole! Why should they prefer +Labrador and Greenland, Iceland and Spitzbergen, +to more southern countries? Why? +Well, possibly for no worse a reason than this, +that these are the lands of their fathers. Other +birds, it may be, have grown discouraged, and +one after another ceased to come back to their +native shores as the rigors of the climate have +increased; but these little patriots are still faithful. +Spitzbergen is home, and every spring they +make the long and dangerous passage to it. All +praise to them!</p> + +<p>If any be ready to call this an over-refinement, +deeming it incredible that beings so small<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +and lowly should come so near to human sentiment +and virtue, let such not be too hasty with +their dissent. Surely they may in reason wait +till they can point to at least one country where +the men are as universally faithful to their +wives and children as the birds are to theirs.</p> + +<p>The red-poll linnets, as I have said, are irregular +visitors in this region; several years +may pass, and not one be seen; but the goldfinch +we have with us always. Easily recognized +as he is, there are many well-educated +New-Englanders, I fear, who do not know him, +even by sight; yet when that distinguished +ornithologist, the Duke of Argyll, comes to +publish his impressions of this country, he avers +that he has been hardly more interested in the +"glories of Niagara" than in this same little +yellow-bird, which he saw for the first time +while looking from his hotel window at the +great cataract. "A golden finch, indeed!" he +exclaims. Such a tribute as this from the pen +of a British nobleman ought to give <i>Astragalinus +tristis</i> immediate entrance into the very +best of American society.</p> + +<p>It is common to say that the goldfinches wander +about the country during the winter. Undoubtedly +this is true in a measure; but I have +seen things which lead me to suspect that the +statement is sometimes made too sweeping.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +Last winter, for example, a flock took up their +quarters in a certain neglected piece of ground +on the side of Beacon Street, close upon the +boundary between Boston and Brookline, and +remained there nearly or quite the whole season. +Week after week I saw them in the same +place, accompanied always by half a dozen tree +sparrows. They had found a spot to their +mind, with plenty of succory and evening primrose, +and were wise enough not to forsake it for +any uncertainty.</p> + +<p>The goldfinch loses his bright feathers and +canary-like song as the cold season approaches, +but not even a New England winter can rob +him of his sweet call and his cheerful spirits; +and for one, I think him never more winsome +than when he bangs in graceful attitudes above +a snow-bank, on a bleak January morning.</p> + +<p>Glad as we are of the society of the goldfinches +and the red-polls at this time of the year, we +cannot easily rid ourselves of a degree of solicitude +for their comfort; especially if we chance +to come upon them after sunset on some bitterly +cold day, and mark with what a nervous +haste they snatch here and there a seed, making +the utmost of the few remaining minutes of twilight. +They will go to bed hungry and cold, +we think, and were surely better off in a milder +clime. But, if I am to judge from my own ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>perience, +the snow buntings awaken no such +emotions. Arctic explorers by instinct, they +come to us only with real arctic weather, and +almost seem to be themselves a part of the +snow-storm with which they arrive. No matter +what they are doing: running along the street +before an approaching sleigh; standing on a +wayside fence; jumping up from the ground to +snatch the stem of a weed, and then setting at +work hurriedly to gather the seeds they have +shaken down; or, best of all, skimming over +the snow in close order, their white breasts +catching the sun as they veer this way or that,—whatever +they may be doing, they are the +most picturesque of all our cold-weather birds. +In point of suspiciousness their behavior is very +different at different times, as, for that matter, +is true of birds generally. Seeing the flock +alight in a low roadside lot, you steal silently +to the edge of the sidewalk to look over upon +them. There they are, sure enough, walking +and running about, only a few rods distant. +What lovely creatures, and how prettily they +walk! But just as you are wishing, perhaps, +that they were a little nearer, they begin to fly +from right under your feet. You search the +ground eagerly, right and left, but not a bird +can you discover; and still they continue to +start up, now here, now there, till you are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +ready to question whether, indeed, "eyes were +made for seeing." The "snow-flakes" wear +protective colors, and, like most other animals, +are of opinion that, for such as lack the receipt +of fern-seed, there is often nothing safer than +to sit still. The worse the weather, the less +timorous they are, for with them, as with wiser +heads, one thought drives out another; and it +is nothing uncommon, when times are hard, to +see them stay quietly upon the fence while a +sleigh goes past, or suffer a foot passenger to +come again and again within a few yards.</p> + +<p>It gives a lively touch to the imagination to +overtake these beautiful strangers in the middle +of Beacon Street; particularly if one has lately +been reading about them in some narrative of +Siberian travel. Coming from so far, associating +in flocks, with costumes so becoming and +yet so unusual, they might be expected to attract +universal notice, and possibly to get into +the newspapers. But there is a fashion even +about seeing; and of a thousand persons who +may take a Sunday promenade over the Mill-dam, +while these tourists from the North Pole +are there, it is doubtful whether a dozen are +aware of their presence. Birds feeding in the +street? Yes, yes; English sparrows, of course; +we haven't any other birds in Boston nowadays, +you know.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p> + +<p>With the pine grosbeaks the case is different. +When a man sees a company of rather large +birds about the evergreens in his door-yard, most +of them of a neutral ashy-gray tint, but one or +two in suits of rose-color, he is pretty certain to +feel at least a momentary curiosity about them. +Their slight advantage in size counts for something; +for, without controversy, the bigger the +bird the more worthy he is of notice. And +then the bright color! The very best men are +as yet but imperfectly civilized, and there must +be comparatively few, even of Bostonians, in +whom there is not some lingering susceptibility +to the fascination of red feathers. Add to these +things the fact that the grosbeaks are extremely +confiding, and much more likely than the buntings +to be seen from the windows of the house, +and you have, perhaps, a sufficient explanation +of the more general interest they excite. Like +the snow buntings and the red-polls, they roam +over the higher latitudes of Europe, Asia, and +America, and make only irregular visits to our +corner of the world.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> + +<p>I cannot boast of any intimate acquaintance +with them. I have never caught them in a net, +or knocked them over with a club, as other per<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>sons +have done, although I have seen them +when their tameness promised success to any +such loving experiment. Indeed, it was several +years before my lookout for them was rewarded. +Then, one day, I saw a flock of about +ten fly across Beacon Street,—on the edge of +Brookline,—and alight in an apple-tree; at +which I forthwith clambered over the picket-fence +after them, heedless alike of the deep +snow and the surprise of any steady-going citizen +who might chance to witness my high-handed +proceeding. Some of the birds were +feeding upon the rotten apples; picking them +off the tree, and taking them to one of the large +main branches or to the ground, and there tearing +them to pieces,—for the sake of the seeds, +I suppose. The rest sat still, doing nothing. +I was most impressed with the exceeding mildness +and placidity of their demeanor; as if +they had time enough, plenty to eat, and nothing +to fear. Their only notes were in quality +much like the goldfinch's, and hardly louder, +but without his characteristic inflection. I left +the whole company seated idly in a maple-tree, +where, to all appearance, they proposed to observe +the remainder of the day as a Sabbath.</p> + +<p>Last winter the grosbeaks were uncommonly +abundant. I found a number of them within a +few rods of the place just mentioned; this time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +in evergreen trees, and so near the road that I +had no call to commit trespass. Evergreens are +their usual resort,—so, at least, I gather from +books,—but I have seen them picking up provender +from a bare-looking last year's garden. +Natives of the inhospitable North, they have +learned by long experience how to adapt themselves +to circumstances. If one resource fails, +there is always another to be tried. Let us +hope that they even know how to show fight +upon, occasion.</p> + +<p>The purple finch—a small copy of the pine +grosbeak, as the indigo bird is of the blue grosbeak—is +a summer rather than a winter bird +with us; yet he sometimes passes the cold season +in Eastern Massachusetts, and even in +Northern New Hampshire. I have never heard +him sing more gloriously than once when the +ground was deep under the snow; a wonderfully +sweet and protracted warble, poured out +while the singer circled about in the air with a +kind of half-hovering flight.</p> + +<p>As I was walking briskly along a West End +street, one cold morning in March, I heard a +bird's note close at hand, and, looking down, +discovered a pair of these finches in a front +yard. The male, in bright plumage, was flitting +about his mate, calling anxiously, while +she, poor thing, sat motionless upon the snow,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +too sick or too badly exhausted to fly. I +stroked her feathers gently while she perched +on my finger, and then resumed my walk; first +putting her into a little more sheltered position +on the sill of a cellar window, and promising to +call on my way back, when, if she were no better, +I would take her home with me, and give +her a warm room and good nursing. When I +returned, however, she was nowhere to be +found. Her mate, I regret to say, both on his +own account and for the sake of the story, had +taken wing and disappeared the moment I entered +the yard. Possibly he came back and encouraged +her to fly off with him; or perhaps +some cat made a Sunday breakfast of her. The +truth will never be known; our vigilant city +police take no cognizance of tragedies so humble.</p> + +<p>For several years a few song sparrows—a +pair or two, at least—have wintered in a piece +of ground just beyond the junction of Beacon +street and Brookline Avenue. I have grown accustomed +to listen for their <i>tseep</i> as I go by the +spot, and occasionally I catch sight of one of them +perched upon a weed, or diving under the plank +sidewalk. It would be a pleasure to know the +history of the colony: how it started; whether +the birds are the same year after year, as I suppose +to be the case; and why this particular<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +site was selected. The lot is small, with no +woods or bushy thicket near, while it has buildings +in one corner, and is bounded on its three +sides by the streets and the railway; but it is +full of a rank growth of weeds, especially a +sturdy species of aster and the evergreen golden-rod, +and I suspect that the plank walk, which +on one side is raised some distance from the +ground, is found serviceable for shelter in severe +weather, as it is certainly made to take the place +of shrubbery for purposes of concealment.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, birds, even those of the same +species, are not all exactly alike in their tastes +and manner of life. So, while by far the greater +part of our song sparrows leave us in the fall, +there are always some who prefer to stay. They +have strong local attachments, perhaps; or they +dread the fatigue and peril of the journey; or +they were once incapacitated for flight when +their companions went away, and, having found +a Northern winter not so unendurable as they +had expected, have since done from choice what +at first they did of necessity. Whatever their +reasons,—and we cannot be presumed to have +guessed half of them,—at all events a goodly +number of song sparrows do winter in Massachusetts, +where they open the musical season before +the first of the migrants make their appearance. +I doubt, however, whether many of them choose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +camping grounds so exposed and public as this +in the rear of the "Half-way House."</p> + +<p>Our only cold-weather thrushes are the robins. +They may be found any time in favorable +situations; and even in so bleak a place as Boston +Common I have seen them in every month +of the year except February. This exception, +moreover, is more apparent than real,—at the +most a matter of but twenty-four hours, since +I once saw four birds in a tree near the Frog +Pond on the last day of January. The house +sparrows were as much surprised as I was at +the sight, and, with characteristic urbanity, gathered +from far and near to sit in the same tree +with the visitors, and stare at them.</p> + +<p>We cannot help being grateful to the robins +and the song sparrows, who give us their society +at so great a cost; but their presence can +scarcely be thought to enliven the season. +At its best their bearing is only that of patient +submission to the inevitable. They remind us +of the summer gone and the summer coming, +rather than brighten the winter that is now +upon us; like friends who commiserate us in +some affliction, but are not able to comfort us. +How different the chickadee! In the worst +weather his greeting is never of condolence, but +of good cheer. He has no theory upon the subject, +probably; he is no Shepherd of Salisbury<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +Plain; but he knows better than to waste the +exhilarating air of this wild and frosty day in +reminiscences of summer time. It is a pretty-sounding +couplet,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Thou hast no morrow in thy song,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No winter in thy year,"—<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>but rather incongruous, he would think. <i>Chickadee, +dee</i>, he calls,—<i>chickadee, dee</i>; and though +the words have no exact equivalent in English, +their meaning is felt by all such as are worthy +to hear them.</p> + +<p>Are the smallest birds really the most courageous, +or does an unconscious sympathy on our +part inevitably give them odds in the comparison? +Probably the latter supposition comes +nearest the truth. When a sparrow chases a +butcher-bird we cheer the sparrow, and then +when a humming-bird puts to flight a sparrow, +we cheer the humming-bird; we side with the +kingbird against the crow, and with the vireo, +against the kingbird. It is a noble trait of +human nature—though we are somewhat too +ready to boast of it—that we like, as we say, +to see the little fellow at the top. These remarks +are made, not with any reference to the +chickadee,—I admit no possibility of exaggeration +in his case,—but as leading to a mention +of the golden-crested kinglet. He is the +least of all our winter birds, and one of the most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +engaging. Emerson's "atom in full breath" +and "scrap of valor" would apply to him even +better than to the titmouse. He says little,—<i>zee, +zee, zee</i> is nearly the limit of his vocabulary; +but his lively demeanor and the grace +and agility of his movements are in themselves +an excellent language, speaking infallibly a contented +mind. (It is a fact, on which I forbear +to moralize, that birds seldom look unhappy +except when they are idle.) His diminutive size +attracts attention even from those who rarely +notice such things. About the first of December, +a year ago, I was told of a man who had +shot a humming-bird only a few days before in +the vicinity of Boston. Of course I expressed a +polite surprise, and assured my informant that +such a remarkable capture ought by all means +to be put on record in "The Auk," as every +ornithologist in the land would be interested +in it. On this he called upon the lucky sportsman's +brother, who happened to be standing by, +to corroborate the story. Yes, the latter said, +the fact was as had been stated. "But then," +he continued, "the bird didn't have a <i>long bill</i>, +like a humming-bird;" and when I suggested +that perhaps its crown was yellow, bordered +with black, he said, "Yes, yes; that's the bird, +exactly." So easy are startling discoveries to +an observer who has just the requisite amount<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +of knowledge,—enough, and (especially) not +too much!</p> + +<p>The brown creeper is quite as industrious and +good-humored as the kinglet, but he is less taking +in his personal appearance and less romantic +in his mode of life. The same may be said +of our two black-and-white woodpeckers, the +downy and the hairy; while their more showy +but less hardy relative, the flicker, evidently +feels the weather a burden. The creeper and +these three woodpeckers are with us in limited +numbers every winter; and in the season of +1881-82 we had an altogether unexpected visit +from the red-headed woodpecker,—such a +thing as had not been known for a long time, +if ever. Where the birds came from, and what +was the occasion of their journey, nobody could +tell. They arrived early in the autumn, and +went away, with the exception of a few stragglers, +in the spring; and as far as I know have +never been seen since. It is a great pity they +did not like us well enough to come again; for +they are wide-awake, entertaining creatures, and +gorgeously attired. I used to watch them in +the oak groves of some Longwood estates, but +it was not till our second or third interview +that I discovered them to be the authors of a +mystery over which I had been exercising my +wits in vain, a tree-frog's note in winter! One of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +their amusements was to drum on the tin girdles +of the shade trees; and meanwhile they themselves +afforded a pastime to the gray squirrels, +who were often to be seen creeping stealthily +after them, as if they imagined that <i>Melanerpes +erythrocephalus</i> might possibly be caught, if +only he were hunted long enough. I laughed +at them; but, after all, their amusing hallucination +was nothing but the sportsman's instinct; +and life would soon lose its charm for most of +us, sportsmen or not, if we could no longer pursue +the unattainable.</p> + +<p>Probably my experience is not singular, but +there are certain birds, well known to be more +or less abundant in this neighborhood, which +for some reason or other I have seldom, if +ever, met. For example, of the multitude of +pine finches which now and then overrun Eastern +Massachusetts in winter I have never +seen one, while on the other hand I was once +lucky enough to come upon a few of the very +much smaller number which pass the summer +in Northern New Hampshire. This was in the +White Mountain Notch, first on Mount Willard +and then near the Crawford House, at which +latter place they were feeding on the lawn and +along the railway track as familiarly as the +goldfinches.</p> + +<p>The shore larks, too, are no doubt common<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +near Boston for a part of every year; yet I +found half a dozen five or six years ago in the +marsh beside a Back Bay street, and have seen +none since. One of these stood upon a pile of +earth, singing to himself in an undertone, while +the rest were feeding in the grass. Whether +the singer was playing sentinel, and sounded an +alarm, I was not sure, but all at once the flock +started off, as if on a single pair of wings.</p> + +<p>Birds which elude the observer in this manner +year after year only render themselves all +the more interesting. They are like other species +with which we deem ourselves well acquainted, +but which suddenly appear in some +quite unlooked-for time or place. The long-expected +and the unexpected have both an especial +charm. I have elsewhere avowed my +favoritism for the white-throated sparrow; but +I was never more delighted to see him than on +one Christmas afternoon. I was walking in a +back road, not far from the city, when I descried +a sparrow ahead of me, feeding in the +path, and, coming nearer, recognized my friend +the white-throat. He held his ground till the +last moment (time was precious to him that +short day), and then flew into a bush to let me +pass, which I had no sooner done than he was +back again; and on my return the same thing +was repeated. Far and near the ground was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +white, but just at this place the snow-plough +had scraped bare a few square feet of earth, and +by great good fortune this solitary and hungry +straggler had hit upon it. I wondered what he +would do when the resources of this garden +patch were exhausted, but consoled myself with +thinking that by this time he must be well used +to living by his wits, and would probably find +a way to do so even in his present untoward +circumstances.</p> + +<p>The snow-birds (not to be confounded with +the snow buntings) should have at least a mention +in such a paper as this. They are among +the most familiar and constant of our winter +guests, although very much less numerous at +that time than in spring and autumn, when the +fields and lanes are fairly alive with them.</p> + +<p>A kind word must be said for the shrike, +also, who during the three coldest months is to +be seen on the Common oftener than any other +of our native birds. <i>There</i>, at all events, he is +doing a good work. May he live to finish it!</p> + +<p>The blue jay stands by us, of course. You +will not go far without hearing his scream, and +catching at least a distant view of his splendid +coat, which he is too consistent a dandy to put +off for one of a duller shade, let the season shift +as it will. He is not always good-natured; but +none the less he is generally in good spirits (he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +seems to enjoy his bad temper), and, all in all, +is not to be lightly esteemed in a time when +bright feathers are scarce.</p> + +<p>As for the jay's sable relatives, they are the +most conspicuous birds in the winter landscape. +You may possibly walk to Brookline and back +without hearing a chickadee, or a blue jay, or +even a goldfinch; but you will never miss sight +and sound of the crows. Black against white +is a contrast hard to be concealed. Sometimes +they are feeding in the street, sometimes stalking +about the marshes; but oftenest they are +on the ice in the river, near the water's edge. +For they know the use of friends, although they +have never heard of Lord Bacon's "last fruit of +friendship," and would hardly understand what +that provident philosopher meant by saying +that "the best way to represent to life the manifold +use of friendship is to cast and see how +many things there are which a man cannot do +himself." How aptly their case illustrates the +not unusual coexistence of formal ignorance +with real knowledge! Having their Southern +brother's fondness for fish without his skill in +catching it, they adopt a plan worthy of the +great essayist himself,—they court the society +of the gulls; and with a temper eminently philosophical, +not to say Baconian, they cheerfully +sit at their patrons' second table. From the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +Common you may see them almost any day +(in some seasons, at least) flying back and +forth between the river and the harbor. One +morning in early March I witnessed quite a +procession, one small company after another, +the largest numbering eleven birds, though it +was nothing to compare with what seems to be +a daily occurrence at some places further south. +At another time, in the middle of January, I +saw what appeared to be a flock of herring gulls +sailing over the city, making progress in their +own wonderfully beautiful manner, circle after +circle. But I noticed that about a dozen of +them were black! What were these? If they +could have held their peace I might have gone +home puzzled; but the crow is in one respect a +very polite bird: he will seldom fly over your +head without letting fall the compliments of +the morning, and a vigorous <i>caw, caw</i> soon proclaimed +my black gulls to be simply erratic +specimens of <i>Corvus Americanus</i>. Why were +they conducting thus strangely? Had they become +so attached to their friends as to have +taken to imitating them unconsciously? Or +were they practicing upon the vanity of these +useful allies of theirs, these master fishermen? +Who can answer? The ways of shrewd people +are hard to understand; and in all New England +there is no shrewder Yankee than the +crow.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> See a letter by Dr. Fritz Müller, "Butterflies as Botanists:" +<i>Nature</i>, vol. xxx. p. 240. Of similar import is the case, cited by +Dr. Asa Gray (in the <i>American Journal of Science</i>, November, +1884, p. 325), of two species of plantain found in this country, +which students have only of late discriminated, although it turns +out that the cows have all along known them apart, eating one and +declining the other,—the bovine taste being more exact, it would +seem, or at any rate more prompt, than the botanist's lens.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Unlike the snow bunting and the red-poll, however, the pine +grosbeak is believed to breed sparingly in Northern New England.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="A_BIRD-LOVERS_APRIL" id="A_BIRD-LOVERS_APRIL"></a>A BIRD-LOVER'S APRIL</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i10">There shall be<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Beautiful things made new, for the surprise<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the sky-children.<br /></span> +<span class="signature">Keats.</span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Everywhere the blue sky belongs to them, and is their appointed +rest, and their native country and their own natural homes, +which they enter unannounced, as lords that are certainly expected, +and yet these is a silent joy at their arrival.<br /> +<span class="signature">Coleridge.</span></p> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>A BIRD-LOVER'S APRIL.</p> + + +<p>It began on the 29th of March; in the afternoon +of which day, despite the authority of the +almanac and the banter of my acquaintances +(March was March to them, and it was nothing +more), I shook off the city's dust from my feet, +and went into summer quarters. The roads +were comparatively dry; the snow was entirely +gone, except a patch or two in the shadow of +thick pines under the northerly side of a hill; +and all tokens seemed to promise an early +spring. So much I learned before the hastening +twilight cut short my first brief turn out-of-doors. +In the morning would be time enough +to discover what birds had already reported +themselves at my station.</p> + +<p>Unknown to me, however, our national +weather bureau had announced a snow-storm, +and in the morning I drew aside the curtains +to look out upon a world all in white, with a +cold, high wind blowing and snow falling fast. +"The worst Sunday of the winter," the natives<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +said. The "summer boarder" went to church, +of course. To have done otherwise might have +been taken for a confession of weakness; as if +inclemency of this sort were more than he had +bargained for. The villagers, lacking any such +spur to right conduct, for the most part stayed +at home; feeling it not unpleasant, I dare say, +some of them, to have a natural inclination +providentially confirmed, even at the cost of an +hour's exercise with the shovel. The bravest +parishioner of all, and the sweetest singer,—the +song sparrow by name,—was not in the +meeting-house, but by the roadside. What if +the wind did blow, and the mercury stand at +fifteen or twenty degrees below the freezing +point? In cold as in heat "the mind is its own +place."</p> + +<p>Three days after this came a second storm, +one of the heaviest snow-falls of the year. The +robins were reduced to picking up seeds in the +asparagus bed. The bluebirds appeared to be +trying to glean something from the bark of +trees, clinging rather awkwardly to the trunk +meanwhile. (They are given to this, more or +less, at all times, and it possibly has some connection +with their half-woodpeckerish habit of +nestling in holes.) Some of the snow-birds +were doing likewise; I noticed one traveling up +a trunk,—which inclined a good deal, to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +sure,—exploring the crannies right and left, +like any creeper. Half a dozen or more phœbes +were in the edge of a wood; and they too +seemed to have found out that, if worst came +to worst, the tree-boles would yield a pittance +for their relief. They often hovered against +them, pecking hastily at the bark, and one at +least was struggling for a foothold on the perpendicular +surface. Most of the time, however, +they went skimming over the snow and the +brook, in the regular flycatcher style. The +chickadees were put to little or no inconvenience, +since what was a desperate makeshift to +the others was to them only an every-day affair. +It would take a long storm to bury their granary.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> +After the titmice, the fox-colored sparrows +had perhaps the best of it. Looking out +places where the snow had collected least, at +the foot of a tree or on the edge of water, these +adepts at scratching speedily turned up earth +enough to checker the white with very considerable +patches of brown. While walking I +continually disturbed song sparrows, fox sparrows, +tree sparrows, and snow-birds feeding in +the road; and when I sat in my room I was +advised of the approach of carriages by seeing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +these "pensioners upon the traveler's track" +scurry past the window in advance of them.</p> + +<p>It is pleasant to observe how naturally birds +flock together in hard times,—precisely as men +do, and doubtless for similar reasons. The edge +of the wood, just mentioned, was populous with +them: robins, bluebirds, chickadees, fox sparrows, +snow-birds, song sparrows, tree sparrows, +phœbes, a golden-winged woodpecker, and a +rusty blackbird. The last, noticeable for his +conspicuous light-colored eye-ring, had somehow +become separated from his fellows, and remained +for several days about this spot entirely +alone. I liked to watch his aquatic performances; +they might almost have been those of +the American dipper himself, I thought. He +made nothing of putting his head and neck +clean under water, like a duck, and sometimes +waded the brook when the current was so +strong that he was compelled every now and +then to stop and brace himself against it, lest +he should be carried off his feet.</p> + +<p>It is clear that birds, sharing the frailty of +some who are better than many sparrows, are +often wanting in patience. As spring draws +near they cannot wait for its coming. What +it has been the fashion to call their unerring +instinct is after all infallible only as a certain +great public functionary is,—in theory; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +their mistaken haste is too frequently nothing +but a hurrying to their death. But I saw no +evidence that this particular storm was attended +with any fatal consequences. The snow completely +disappeared within a day or two; and +even while it lasted the song sparrows, fox sparrows, +and linnets could be heard singing with +all cheerfulness. On the coldest day, when +the mercury settled to within twelve degrees of +zero, I observed that the song sparrows, as they +fed in the road, had a trick of crouching till +their feathers all but touched the ground, so +protecting their legs against the biting wind.</p> + +<p>The first indications of mating were noticed +on the 5th, the parties being two pairs of bluebirds. +One of the females was rebuffing her +suitor rather petulantly, but when he flew away +she lost no time in following. Shall I be accused +of slander if I suggest that possibly her +<i>No</i> meant nothing worse than <i>Ask me again?</i> +I trust not; she was only a bluebird, remember. +Three days later I came upon two couples +engaged in house-hunting. In this business the +female takes the lead, with a silent, abstracted +air, as if the matter were one of absorbing interest; +while her mate follows her about somewhat +impatiently, and with a good deal of talk, +which is plainly intended to hasten the decision. +"Come, come," he says; "the season is short,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +and we can't waste the whole of it in getting +ready." I never could discover that his eloquence +produced much effect, however. Her +ladyship will have her own way; as indeed she +ought to have, good soul, considering that she +is to have the discomfort and the hazard. In +one case I was puzzled by the fact that there +seemed to be two females to one of the opposite +sex. It really looked as if the fellow proposed +to set up housekeeping with whichever should +first find a house to her mind. But this <i>is</i> +slander, and I hasten to take it back. No +doubt I misinterpreted his behavior; for it is +true—with sorrow I confess it—that I am as +yet but imperfectly at home in the Sialian dialect.</p> + +<p>For the first fortnight my note-book is full of +the fox-colored sparrows. It was worth while +to have come into the country ahead of time, +as city people reckon, to get my fill of this +Northern songster's music. Morning and night, +wherever I walked, and even if I remained in-doors, +I was certain to hear the loud and beautiful +strain; to which I listened with the more +attention because the birds, I knew, would soon +be off for their native fields, beyond the boundaries +of the United States.</p> + +<p>It is astonishing how gloriously birds may +sing, and yet pass unregarded. We read of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +nightingales and skylarks with a self-satisfied +thrill of second-hand enthusiasm, and meanwhile +our native songsters, even the best of +them, are piping unheeded at our very doors. +There may have been half a dozen of the town's +people who noticed the presence of these fox +sparrows, but I think it doubtful; and yet the +birds, the largest, handsomest, and most musical +of all our many sparrows, were, as I say, +abundant everywhere, and in full voice.</p> + +<p>One afternoon I stood still while a fox sparrow +and a song sparrow sang alternately on +either side of me, both exceptionally good vocalists, +and each doing his best. The songs +were of about equal length, and as far as theme +was concerned were not a little alike; but the +fox sparrow's tone was both louder and more +mellow than the other's, while his notes were +longer,—more sustained,—and his voice was +"carried" from one pitch to another. On the +whole, I had no hesitation about giving him +the palm; but I am bound to say that his rival +was a worthy competitor. In some respects, indeed, +the latter was the more interesting singer +of the two. His opening measure of three <i>pips</i> +was succeeded by a trill of quite peculiar brilliancy +and perfection; and when the other bird +had ceased he suddenly took a lower perch, and +began to rehearse an altogether different tune<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +in a voice not more than half as loud as what +he had been using; after which, as if to cap +the climax, he several times followed the tune +with a detached phrase or two in a still fainter +voice. This last was pretty certainly an improvised +cadenza, such a thing as I do not remember +ever to have heard before from <i>Melospiza +melodia</i>.</p> + +<p>The song of the fox sparrow has at times an +almost thrush-like quality; and the bird himself, +as he flies up in front of you, might easily +be mistaken for some member of that noble +family. Once, indeed, when I saw him eating +burning-bush berries in a Boston garden, I was +half ready to believe that I had before my eyes +a living example of the development of one +species out of another,—a finch already well +on his way to become a thrush. Most often, +however, his voice puts me in mind of the cardinal +grosbeak's; his voice, and perhaps still +more his cadence, and especially his practice of +the <i>portamento</i>.</p> + +<p>The 11th of the month was sunny, and the +next morning I came back from my accustomed +rounds under a sense of bereavement: the fox +sparrows were gone. Where yesterday there +had been hundreds of them, now I could find +only two silent stragglers. They had been well +scattered over the township,—here a flock and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> +there a flock; but in some way—I should be +glad to have anybody tell me how—the word +had passed from company to company that after +sundown Friday night all hands would set out +once more on their northward journey. There +was one man, at least, who missed them, and +in the comparative silence which followed their +departure appreciated anew how much they had +contributed to fill the wet and chilly April mornings +with melody and good cheer.</p> + +<p>The snow-birds tarried longer, but from this +date became less and less abundant. For the +first third of the month they had been as numerous, +I calculated, as all other species put +together. On one occasion I saw a large company +of them chasing an albino, the latter dashing +wildly round a pine-tree, with the whole +flock in furious pursuit. They drove him off, +across an impassable morass, before I could get +close enough really to see him, but I presumed +him to be of their own kind. As far as I could +make out he was entirely white. For the moment +it lasted, it was an exciting scene; and I +was especially gratified to notice with what extreme +heartiness and unanimity the birds discountenanced +their wayward brother's heterodoxy. +I agreed with them that one who cannot +be content to dress like other people ought not +to be allowed to live with them. The world is +large,—let him go to Rhode Island!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p> + +<p>On the evening of the 6th, just at dusk, I +had started up the road for a lazy after-dinner +saunter, when I was brought to a sudden halt +by what on the instant I took for the cry of a +night-hawk. But no night-hawk could be here +thus early in the season, and listening further, +I perceived that the bird, if bird it was, was on +the ground, or, at any rate, not far from it. +Then it flashed upon me that this was the note +of the woodcock, which I had that very day +startled upon this same hillside. Now, then, +for another sight of his famous aerial courtship +act! So, scrambling down the embankment, +and clambering over the stone-wall, I pushed up +the hill through bushes and briers, till, having +come as near the bird as I dared, I crouched, +and awaited further developments. I had not +long to wait, for after a few <i>yaks</i>, at intervals +of perhaps fifteen or twenty seconds, the fellow +took to wing, and went soaring in a circle above +me; calling hurriedly <i>click, click, click</i>, with a +break now and then, as if for breath-taking. +All this he repeated several times; but unfortunately +it was too dark for me to see him, except +as he crossed a narrow illuminated strip of +sky just above the horizon line. I judged that +he mounted to a very considerable height, and +dropped invariably into the exact spot from +which he had started. For a week or two I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +listened every night for a repetition of the yak; +but I heard nothing more of it for a month. +Then it came to my ears again, this time from +a field between the road and a swamp. Watching +my opportunity, while the bird was in the +air, I hastened across the field, and stationed +myself against a small cedar. He was still +<i>clicking</i> high overhead, but soon alighted +silently within twenty yards of where I was +standing, and commenced to "bleat," prefacing +each <i>yak</i> with a fainter syllable which I had +never before been near enough to detect. Presently +he started once more on his skyward +journey. Up he went, in a large spiral, +"higher still and higher" till the cedar cut +off my view for an instant, after which I could +not again get my eye upon him. Whether he +saw me or not I cannot tell, but he dropped to +the ground some rods away, and did not make +another ascension, although he continued to +call irregularly, and appeared to be walking +about the field. Perhaps by this time the fair +one for whose benefit all this parade was intended +had come out of the swamp to meet and +reward her admirer.</p> + +<p>Hoping for a repetition of the same programme +on the following night, I invited a +friend from the city to witness it with me; one +who, less fortunate than the "forest seer," had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> +never "heard the woodcock's evening hymn," +notwithstanding his knowledge of birds is a +thousand-fold more than mine, as all students +of American ornithology would unhesitatingly +avouch were I to mention his name. We waited +till dark; but though <i>Philohela</i> was there, and +sounded his <i>yak</i> two or three times,—just +enough to excite our hopes,—yet for some +reason he kept to <i>terra firma</i>. Perhaps he was +aware of our presence, and disdained to exhibit +himself in the <i>rôle</i> of a wooer under our profane +and curious gaze; or possibly, as my more +scientific (and less sentimental) companion suggested, +the light breeze may have been counted +unfavorable for such high-flying exploits.</p> + +<p>After all, our matter-of-fact world is surprisingly +full of romance. Who would have expected +to find this heavy-bodied, long-billed, +gross-looking, bull-headed bird singing at heaven's +gate? <i>He</i> a "scorner of the ground"? +Verily, love worketh wonders! And perhaps +it is really true that the outward semblance is +sometimes deceptive. To be candid, however, +I must end with confessing that, after listening +to the woodcock's "hymn" a good many times, +first and last, I cannot help thinking that it +takes an imaginative ear to discover anything +properly to be called a song in its monotonous +<i>click, click</i>, even at its fastest and loudest.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> +<p>While I was enjoying the farewell <i>matinée</i> +of the fox-colored sparrows on the 11th, suddenly +there ran into the chorus the fine silver +thread of the winter wren's tune. Here was +pleasure unexpected. It is down in all the +books, I believe, that this bird does not sing +while on his travels; and certainly I had myself +never known him to do anything of the +sort before. But there is always something +new under the sun.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Who ever heard of th' Indian Peru?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or who in venturous vessell measurèd<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Amazon's huge river, now found trew?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or fruitfullest Virginia who did ever vew?"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>I was all ear, of course, standing motionless +while the delicious music came again and again<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> +out of a tangle of underbrush behind a dilapidated +stone-wall,—a spot for all the world +congenial to this tiny recluse, whose whole life, +we may say, is one long game of hide-and-seek. +Altogether the song was repeated twenty times +at least, and to my thinking I had never heard +it given with greater brilliancy and fervor. +The darling little minstrel! he will never know +how grateful I felt. I even forgave him when +he sang thrice from a living bush, albeit in so +doing he spoiled a sentence which I had already +committed to "the permanency of print." +Birds of all kinds will play such tricks upon us; +but whether the fault be chargeable to fickleness +or a mischievous spirit on their part, rather +than to undue haste on the part of us their reporters, +is a matter about which I am perhaps +not sufficiently disinterested to judge. In this +instance, however, it was reasonably certain +that the singer did not show himself intentionally; +for unless the whole tenor of his life belies +him, the winter wren's motto is, Little birds +should be heard, and not seen.</p> + +<p>Two days afterward I was favored again in +like manner. But not by the same bird, I +think; unless my hearing was at fault (the +singer was further off than before), this one's +tune was in places somewhat broken and hesitating,—as +if he were practicing a lesson not +yet fully learned.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + +<p>I felt under a double obligation to these two +specimens of <i>Anorthura troglodytes hiemalis</i>: +first for their music itself; and then for the support +which it gave to a pet theory of mine, that +all our singing birds will yet be found to sing +more or less regularly in the course of the +vernal migration.</p> + +<p>Within another forty-eight hours this same +theory received additional confirmation. I was +standing under an apple-tree, watching a pair +of titmice who were hollowing out a stub for a +nest, when my ear caught a novel song not far +away. Of course I made towards it; but the +bird flew off, across the road and into the woods. +My hour was up, and I reluctantly started homeward, +but had gone only a few rods before the +song was repeated. This was more than human +nature could bear, and, turning back upon the +run, I got into the woods just in time to see +two birds chasing each other round a tree, both +uttering the very notes which had so roused my +curiosity. Then away they went; but as I was +again bewailing my evil luck, one of them returned, +and flew into the oak, directly over my +head, and as he did so fell to calling anew, <i>Sue, +suky, suky</i>. A single glance upward revealed +that this was another of the silent migrants,—a +brown creeper! Only once before had I +heard from him anything beside his customary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> +lisping <i>zee</i>, <i>zee</i>; and even on that occasion (in +June and in New Hampshire) the song bore no +resemblance to his present effort. I have written +it down as it sounded at the moment, <i>Sue</i>, +<i>suky</i>, <i>suky</i>, five notes, the first longer than the +others, and all of them brusque, loud, and musical, +though with something of a warbler +quality.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> + +<p>It surprised me to find how the migratory +movement lagged for the first half of the month. +A pair of white-breasted swallows flew over my +head while I was attending to the winter wren +on the 11th, and on the 14th appeared the first +pine-creeping warblers,—welcome for their +own sakes, and doubly so as the forerunners of +a numerous and splendid company; but aside +from these two, I saw no evidence that a single<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +new species arrived at my station for the entire +fortnight.</p> + +<p>Robins sang sparingly from the beginning, +and became perceptibly more musical on the +8th, with signs of mating and jealousy; but +the real robin carnival did not open till the +morning of the 14th. Then the change was +wonderful. Some of the birds were flying this +way and that, high in air, two or three together; +others chased each other about nearer +the ground; some were screaming, some hissing, +and more singing. So sudden was the outbreak +and so great the commotion that I was +persuaded there must have been an arrival of +females in the night.</p> + +<p>I have heard it objected against these +thrushes, whose extreme commonness renders +them less highly esteemed than they would +otherwise be, that they find their voices too +early in the morning. But I am not myself +prepared to second the criticism. They are +not often at their matins, I think, until the +eastern sky begins to flush, and it is not quite +certain to my mind that they are wrong in assuming +that daylight makes daytime. I have +questioned before now whether our own custom +of sitting up for five or six hours after sunset, +and then lying abed two or three hours after +sunrise, may not have come down to us from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> +times when there were still people in the world +who loved darkness rather than light, because +their deeds were evil; and whether, after all, +in this as in some other respects, we might not +wisely take pattern of the fowls of the air.</p> + +<p>Individually, the phœbes were almost as +noisy as the robins, but of course their numbers +were far less. They are models of perseverance. +Were their voice equal to the nightingale's +they could hardly be more assiduous and +enthusiastic in its use. As a general thing they +are content to repeat the simple <i>Phœbe, Phœbe</i> +(there are moods in the experience of all of us, +I hope, when the repetition of a name is by itself +music sufficient), but it is not uncommon +for this to be heightened to <i>Phœbe, O Phœbe</i>; +and now and then you will hear some fellow +calling excitedly, <i>Phœbe, Phœbe-be-be-be-be</i>,—a +comical sort of stuttering, in which the difficulty +is not in getting hold of the first syllable, +but in letting go the last one. On the 15th I +witnessed a certain other performance of theirs,—one +that I had seen two or three times the +season previous, and for which I had been on +the lookout from the first day of the month. I +heard a series of <i>chips</i>, which might have been +the cries of a chicken, but which, it appeared, +did proceed from a phœbe, who, as I looked up, +was just in the act of quitting his perch on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> +ridge-pole of a barn. He rose for perhaps thirty +feet, not spirally, but in a zigzag course,—like +a horse climbing a hill with a heavy load,—all +the time calling, <i>chip, chip, chip</i>. Then he +went round and round in a small circle, with a +kind of hovering action of the wings, vociferating +hurriedly, <i>Phœbe, Phœbe, Phœbe</i>; after +which he shot down into the top of a tree, and +with a lively flirt of his tail took up again the +same eloquent theme. During the next few +weeks I several times found birds of this species +similarly engaged. And it is worthy of remark +that, of the four flycatchers which regularly +pass the summer with us, three may be +said to be, in the <i>habit</i> of singing in the air, +while the fourth (the wood pewee) does the +same thing, only with less frequency. It is curious, +also, on the other hand, that not one of +our eight common New England thrushes, as +far as I have ever seen or heard, shows the least +tendency toward any such state of lyrical exaltation. +Yet the thrushes are song birds <i>par excellence</i>, +while the phœbe, the least flycatcher, +and the kingbird are not supposed to be able +to sing at all. The latter have the soul of music +in them, at any rate; and why should it not +be true of birds, as it is of human poets and +would-be poets, that sensibility and faculty are +not always found together? Perhaps those<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> +who have nothing but the sensibility have, +after all, the better half of the blessing.</p> + +<p>The golden-winged woodpeckers shouted +comparatively little before the middle of the +month, and I heard nothing of their tender +<i>wick-a-wick</i> until the 22d. After that they were +noisy enough. With all their power of lungs, +however, they not only are not singers; they +do not aspire to be. They belong to the tribe +of Jubal. Hearing somebody drumming on +tin, I peeped over the wall, and saw one of +these pigeon woodpeckers hammering an old +tin pan lying in the middle of the pasture. +Rather small sport, I thought, for so large a +bird. But that was a matter of opinion, merely, +and evidently the performer himself had no +such scruples. He may even have considered +that his ability to play on this instrument of the +tinsmith's went far to put him on an equality +with some who boast themselves the only tool-using +animals. True, the pan was battered and +rusty; but it was resonant, for all that, and +day after day he pleased himself with beating +<i>reveille</i> upon it. One morning I found him +sitting in a tree, screaming lustily in response +to another bird in an adjacent field. After a +while, waxing ardent, he dropped to the ground, +and, stationing himself before his drum, proceeded +to answer each cry of his rival with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> +vigorous rubadub, varying the programme with +an occasional halloo. How long this would have +lasted there is no telling, but he caught sight of +me, skulking behind a tree-trunk, and flew back +to his lofty perch, where he was still shouting +when I came away. It was observable that, +even in his greatest excitement, he paused once +in a while to dress his feathers. At first I was +inclined to take this as betraying a want of +earnestness; but further reflection led me to a +different conclusion. For I imagine that the +human lover, no matter how consuming his passion, +is seldom carried so far beyond himself as +not to be able to spare now and then a thought +to the parting of his hair and the tie of his cravat.</p> + +<p>Seeing the great delight which this woodpecker +took in his precious tin pan, it seemed +to me not at all improbable that he had selected +his summer residence with a view to being near +it, just as I had chosen mine for its convenience +of access to the woods on the one hand, and to +the city on the other. I shall watch with interest +to see whether he returns to the same +pasture another year.</p> + +<p>A few field sparrows and chippers showed +themselves punctually on the 15th; but they +were only scouts, and the great body of their +followers were more than a week behind them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +I saw no bay-winged buntings until the 22d, +although it is likely enough they had been here +for some days before that. By a lucky chance, +my very first bird was a peculiarly accomplished +musician: he altered his tune at nearly every +repetition of it, sang it sometimes loudly and +then softly, and once in a while added cadenza-like +phrases. It lost nothing by being heard on +a bright, frosty morning, when the edges of the +pools were filmed with ice.</p> + +<p>Only three species of warblers appeared during +the month: the pine-creeping warblers, already +spoken of, who were trilling on the 14th; +the yellow-rumped, who came on the 23d; and +the yellow red-polls, who followed the next morning. +The black-throated greens were mysteriously +tardy, and the black-and-white creepers +waited for May-day.</p> + +<p>A single brown thrush was leading the chorus +on the 29th. "A great singer," my note-book +says: "not so altogether faultless as some, but +with a large voice and style, adapted to a great +part;" and then is added, "I thought this morning +of Titiens, as I listened to him!"—a bit of +impromptu musical criticism, which, under cover +of the saving quotation marks may stand for +what it is worth.</p> + +<p>Not long after leaving him I ran upon two +hermit thrushes (one had been seen on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> +25th), flitting about the woods like ghosts. I +whistled softly to the first, and he condescended +to answer with a low <i>chuck</i>, after which I could +get nothing more out of him. This demure +taciturnity is very curious and characteristic, +and to me very engaging. The fellow will +neither skulk nor run, but hops upon some low +branch, and looks at you,—behaving not a little +as if you were the specimen and he the student! +And in such a case, as far as I can see, +the bird equally with the man has a right to his +own point of view.</p> + +<p>The hermits were not yet in tune; and without +forgetting the fox-colored sparrows and the +linnets, the song sparrows and the bay-wings, +the winter wrens and the brown thrush, I am +almost ready to declare that the best music of +the month came from the smallest of all the +month's birds, the ruby-crowned kinglets. Their +spring season is always short with us, and unhappily +it was this year shorter even than usual, +my dates being April 23d and May 5th. But +we must be thankful for a little, when the little +is of such a quality. Once I descried two of them +in the topmost branches of a clump of tall maples. +For a long time they fed in silence; then +they began to chase each other about through +the trees, in graceful evolutions (I can imagine +nothing more graceful), and soon one, and then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> +the other, broke out into song. "'Infinite riches +in a little room,'" my note-book says, again; and +truly the song is marvelous,—a prolonged and +varied warble, introduced and often broken into, +with delightful effect, by a wrennish chatter. +For fluency, smoothness, and ease, and especially +for purity and sweetness of tone, I have never +heard any bird-song that seemed to me more +nearly perfect. If the dainty creature would +bear confinement,—on which point I know +nothing,—he would make an ideal parlor songster; +for his voice, while round and full,—in +contrast with the goldfinch's, for example,—is +yet, even at its loudest, of a wonderful softness +and delicacy. Nevertheless, I trust that nobody +will ever cage him. Better far go out-of-doors, +and drink in the exquisite sounds as they drop +from the thick of some tall pine, while you catch +now and then a glimpse of the tiny author, flitting +busily from branch to branch, warbling at +his work; or, as you may oftener do, look and +listen to your heart's content, while he explores +some low cedar or a cluster of roadside birches, +too innocent and happy to heed your presence. +So you will carry home not the song only, but +"the river and sky."</p> + +<p>But if the kinglets were individually the best +singers, I must still confess that the goldfinches +gave the best concert. It was on a sunny after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>noon,—the +27th,—and in a small grove of tall +pitch-pines. How many birds there were I +could form little estimate, but when fifteen flew +away for a minute or two the chorus was not +perceptibly diminished. All were singing, twittering, +and calling together; some of them directly +over my head, the rest scattered throughout +the wood. No one voice predominated in +the least; all sang softly, and with an indescribable +tenderness and beauty. Any who do +not know how sweet the goldfinch's note is may +get some conception of the effect of such a concert +if they will imagine fifty canaries thus engaged +out-of-doors. I declared then that I had +never heard anything so enchanting, and I am +not certain even now that I was over-enthusiastic.</p> + +<p>A pine-creeping warbler, I remember, broke +in upon the choir two or three times with his +loud, precise trill. Foolish bird! His is a pretty +song by itself, but set in contrast with music so +full of imagination and poetry, it sounded painfully +abrupt and prosaic.</p> + +<p>I discovered the first signs of nest-building on +the 13th, while investigating the question of a +bird's ambi-dexterity. It happened that I had +just been watching a chickadee, as he picked +chip after chip from a dead branch, and held +them fast with one claw, while he broke them in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> +pieces with his beak; and walking away, it occurred +to me to ask whether or not he could +probably use both feet equally well for such a +purpose. Accordingly, seeing another go into +an apple-tree, I drew near to take his testimony +on that point. But when I came to look for +him he was nowhere in sight, and pretty soon it +appeared that he was at work in the end of an +upright stub, which he had evidently but just +begun to hollow out, as the tip of his tail still +protruded over the edge. A bird-lover's curiosity +can always adapt itself to circumstances, +and in this case it was no hardship to postpone +the settlement of my newly raised inquiry, +while I observed the pretty labors of my little +architect. These proved to be by no means +inconsiderable, lasting nearly or quite three +weeks. The birds were still bringing away +chips on the 30th, when their cavity was about +eleven inches deep; but it is to be said that, as +far as I could find out, they never worked in the +afternoon or on rainy days.</p> + +<p>Their demeanor toward each other all this +time was beautiful to see; no effusive display of +affection, but every appearance of a perfect mutual +understanding and contentment. And their +treatment of me was no less appropriate and +delightful,—a happy combination of freedom +and dignified reserve. I took it for an ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>tremely +neat compliment to myself, as well as +incontestable evidence of unusual powers of discrimination +on their part.</p> + +<p>On my second visit the female sounded a call +as I approached the tree, and I looked to see +her mate take some notice of it; but he kept +straight on with what he was doing. Not long +after she spoke again, however; and now it was +amusing to see the fellow all at once stand still +on the top of the stub, looking up and around, +as much as to say, "What is it, my dear? I +see nothing." Apparently it <i>was</i> nothing, and +he went head first into the hole again. Pretty +soon, while he was inside, I stepped up against +the trunk. His mate continued silent, and after +what seemed a long time he came out, flew to +an adjacent twig, dropped his load, and returned. +This he did over and over (the end of the stub +was perhaps ten feet above my head), and once +he let fall a beakful of chips plump in my face. +They were light, and I did not resent the liberty.</p> + +<p>Two mornings later I found him at his task +again, toiling in good earnest. In and out he +went, taking care to bring away the shavings +at every trip, as before, and generally sounding +a note or two (keeping the tally, perhaps) before +he dropped them. For the fifteen minutes +or so that I remained, his mate was perched in +another branch of the same tree, not once shift<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>ing +her position, and doing nothing whatever +except to preen her feathers a little. She paid +no attention to her husband, nor did he to her. +It was a revelation to me that a chickadee could +possibly sit still so long.</p> + +<p>Eight days after this they were both at work, +spelling each other, and then going off in company +for a brief turn at feeding.</p> + +<p>So far they had never manifested the least annoyance +at my espionage; but the next morning, +as I stood against the tree, one of them +seemed slightly disturbed, and flew from twig +to twig about my head, looking at me from all +directions with his shining black eyes. The reconnoissance +was satisfactory, however; everything +went on as before, and several times the +chips rattled down upon my stiff Derby hat. +The hole was getting deep, it was plain; I +could hear the little carpenter hammering at +the bottom, and then scrambling up the walls +on his way out. One of the pair brought a +black tidbit from a pine near by, and offered it +to the other as he emerged into daylight. He +took it from her bill, said <i>chit</i>,—chickadese for +<i>thank you</i>,—and hastened back into the mine.</p> + +<p>Finally, on the 27th, after watching their operations +a while from the ground, I swung myself +into the tree, and took a seat with them. +To my delight, the work proceeded without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +interruption. Neither bird made any outcry, +although one of them hopped round me, just +out of reach, with evident curiosity. He must +have thought me a queer specimen. When I +drew my overcoat up after me and put it on, +they flew away; but within a minute or two +they were both back again, working as merrily +as ever, and taking no pains not to litter me +with their rubbish. Once the female (I took +it to be she from her smaller size, not from this +piece of shiftlessness) dropped her load without +quitting the stub, a thing I had not seen +either of them do before. Twice one brought +the other something to eat. At last the male +took another turn at investigating my character, +and it began to look as if he would end +with alighting on my hat. This time, too, I +am proud to say, the verdict was favorable.</p> + +<p>Their confidence was not misplaced, and unless +all signs failed they reared a full brood of +tits. May their tribe increase! Of birds so +innocent and unobtrusive, so graceful, so merry-hearted, +and so musical, the world can never +have too many.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> In the titmouse's cosmological system trees occupy a highly +important place, we may be sure; while the purpose of their tall, +upright method of growth no doubt receives a very simple and +logical (and correspondingly lucid) explanation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> While this book is passing through the press (April 30th, +1885) I am privileged with another sight and sound of the woodcock's +vespertine performance, and under peculiarly favorable +conditions. In the account given above, sufficient distinction is +not made between the clicking noise, heard while the bird is soaring, +and the sounds which signalize his descent. The former is +probably produced by the wings, although I have heretofore +thought otherwise, while the latter are certainly vocal, and no +doubt intended as a song. But they are little if at all louder than +the <i>click, click</i> of the wings, and as far as I have ever been able +to make out are nothing more than a series of quick, breathless +whistles, with no attempt at either melody or rhythm. +</p><p> +In the present instance I could see only the start and the "finish," +when the bird several times passed directly by and over me, +as I stood in a cluster of low birches, within two or three rods of +his point of departure. His angle of flight was small; quite as if +he had been going and coming from one field to another, in the +ordinary course. Once I timed him, and found that he was on the +wing for a few seconds more than a minute.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Still further to corroborate my "pet theory," I may say here +in a foot-note, what I have said elsewhere with more detail, that +before the end of the following month the hermit thrushes, the +olive-backed thrushes, and the gray-cheeked thrushes all sang for +me in my Melrose woods. +</p><p> +Let me explain, also, that when I call the brown creeper a silent +migrant I am not unaware that others beside myself, and more +than myself, have heard him sing while traveling. Mr. William +Brewster, as quoted by Dr. Brewer in the <i>History of North American +Birds</i>, has been exceptionally fortunate in this regard. But +my expression is correct as far as the rule is concerned; and the +latest word upon the subject which has come under my eye is this +from Mr. E. P. Bicknell's "Study of the Singing of our Birds," in +<i>The Auk</i> for April, 1884: "Some feeble notes, suggestive of those +of <i>Regulus satrapa</i>, are this bird's usual utterance during its visit. +Its song I have never heard."</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="AN_OWLS_HEAD_HOLIDAY" id="AN_OWLS_HEAD_HOLIDAY"></a>AN OWL'S HEAD HOLIDAY.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Let Euclid rest, and Archimedes pause,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And what the Swede intends, and what the French.<br /></span> +<span class="signature">Milton.</span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>AN OWL'S HEAD HOLIDAY.</p> + + +<p>My trip to Lake Memphremagog was by the +way, and was not expected to detain me for +more than twenty-four hours; but when I went +ashore at the Owl's Head Mountain-House, and +saw what a lodge in the wilderness it was, I +said to myself, Go to, this is the place; Mount +Mansfield will stand for another year at least, +and I will waste no more of my precious fortnight +amid dust and cinders. Here were to be +enjoyed many of the comforts of civilization, +with something of the wildness and freedom +of a camp. Out of one of the windows of my +large, well-furnished room I could throw a stone +into the trackless forest, where, any time I +chose, I could make the most of a laborious +half-hour in traveling half a mile. The other +two opened upon a piazza; whence the lake was +to be seen stretching away northward for ten or +fifteen miles, with Mount Orford and his supporting +hills in the near background; while I +had only to walk the length of the piazza to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +look round the corner of the house at Owl's +Head itself, at whose base we were. The hotel +had less than a dozen guests and no piano, and +there was neither carriage-road nor railway +within sight or hearing. Yes, this was the +place where I would spend the eight days +which yet remained to me of idle time.</p> + +<p>Of the eight days five were what are called +unpleasant; but the unseasonable cold, which +drove the stayers in the house to huddle about +the fire, struck the mosquitoes with a torpor +which made strolling in the woods a double +luxury; while the rain was chiefly of the showery +sort, such as a rubber coat and old clothes +render comparatively harmless. Not that I +failed to take a hand with my associates in +grumbling about the weather. Table-talk +would speedily come to an end in such circumstances +if people were forbidden to criticise the +order of nature; and it is not for me to boast +any peculiar sanctity in this respect. But when +all was over, it had to be acknowledged that I, +for one, had been kept in-doors very little. In +fact, if the whole truth were told, it would +probably appear that my fellow boarders, seeing +my persistency in disregarding the inclemency +of the elements, soon came to look upon +me as decidedly odd, though perhaps not absolutely +demented. At any rate, I was rather<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +glad than otherwise to think so. In those long +days there must often have been a dearth of +topics for profitable conversation, no matter +how outrageous the weather, and it was a +pleasure to believe that this little idiosyncracy +of mine might answer to fill here and there a +gap. For what generous person does not rejoice +to feel that even in his absence he may be +doing something for the comfort and well-being +of his brothers and sisters? As Seneca said, +"Man is born for mutual assistance."</p> + +<p>According to Osgood's "New England," the +summit of Owl's Head is 2,743 feet above the +level of the lake, and the path to it is a mile +and a half and thirty rods in length. It may +seem niggardly not to throw off the last petty +fraction; and indeed we might well enough let +it pass if it were at the beginning of the route,—if +the path, that is, were thirty rods and a +mile and a half long. But this, it will be observed, +is not the case; and it is a fact perfectly +well attested, though perhaps not yet +scientifically accounted for (many things are +known to be true which for the present cannot +be mathematically demonstrated), that near the +top of a mountain thirty rods are equivalent to +a good deal more than four hundred and ninety-five +feet. Let the guide-book's specification +stand, therefore, in all its surveyor-like exact<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>ness. +After making the climb four times in +the course of eight days, I am not disposed to +abate so much as a jot from the official figures. +Rather than do that I would pin my faith to +an unprofessional-looking sign-board in the rear +of the hotel, on which the legend runs, "Summit +of Owl's Head 2¼ miles." For aught I +know, indeed (in such a world as this, uncertainty +is a principal mark of intelligence),—for +aught I know, both measurements may be +correct; which fact, if once it were established, +would easily and naturally explain how it came +to pass that I myself found the distance so +much greater on some days than on others; although, +for that matter, which of the two would +be actually longer, a path which should rise +2,743 feet in a mile and a half, or one that +should cover two miles and a quarter in reaching +the same elevation, is a question to which +different pedestrians would likely enough return +contradictory answers.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> + +<p>Yet let me not be thought to magnify so +small a feat as the ascent of Owl's Head, a +mountain which the ladies of the Appalachian +Club may be presumed to look upon as hardly +better than a hillock. The guide-book's "thirty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> +rods" have betrayed me into saying more than +I intended. It would have been enough had +I mentioned that the way is in many places +steep, while at the time of my visit the constant +rains kept it in a muddy, treacherous condition. +I remember still the undignified and +uncomfortable celerity with which, on one occasion, +I took my seat in what was little better +than the rocky bed of a brook, such a place as +I should by no means have selected for the purpose +had I been granted even a single moment +for deliberation.</p> + +<p>"Hills draw like heaven" (as applied to +some of us, it may be feared that this is rather +an under-statement), and it could not have +been more than fifteen minutes after I landed +from the Lady of the Lake—the "Old Lady," +as one of the fishermen irreverently called her—before +I was on my way to the summit.</p> + +<p>I was delighted then, as I was afterwards, +whenever I entered the woods, with the extraordinary +profusion and variety of the ferns. +Among the rest, and one of the most abundant, +was the beautiful <i>Cystopteris bulbifera</i>; its +long, narrow, pale green, delicately cut, Dicksonia-like +fronds bending toward the ground at +the tip, as if about to take root for a new +start, in the walking-fern's manner. Some of +these could not have been less than four feet in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +length (including the stipe), and I picked one +which measured about two feet and a half, and +bore twenty-five bulblets underneath. Half a +mile from the start, or thereabouts, the path +skirts what I should call the fernery; a circular +space, perhaps one hundred and fifty feet +in diameter, set in the midst of the primeval +forest, but itself containing no tree or shrub +of any sort,—nothing but one dense mass of +ferns. In the centre was a patch of the sensitive +fern (Onoclea sensibilis), while around this, +and filling nearly the entire circle, was a magnificent +thicket of the ostrich fern (<i>Onoclea +struthiopteris</i>), with <i>sensibilis</i> growing hidden +and scattered underneath. About the edge +were various other species, notably <i>Aspidium +Goldianum</i>, which I here found for the first +time, and <i>Aspidium aculeatum</i>, var. <i>Braunii</i>. +All in all, it was a curious and pretty sight,—this +tiny tarn filled with ferns instead of water,—one +worth going a good distance to see, and +sure to attract the notice of the least observant +traveler.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<p>Ferns are mostly of a gregarious habit. Here +at Owl's Head, for instance, might be seen in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +one place a rock thickly matted with the common +polypody; in another a patch of the +maiden-hair; in still another a plenty of the +Christmas fern, or a smaller group of one of +the beech ferns (<i>Phegopteris polypodioides</i> or +<i>Phegopteris Dryopteris</i>). Our grape-ferns or +moonworts, on the other hand, covet more +elbow-room. The largest species (<i>Botrychium +Virginianum</i>), although never growing in anything +like a bed or tuft, was nevertheless common +throughout the woods; you could gather +a handful almost anywhere; but I found only +one plant of <i>Botrychium lanceolatum</i>, and only +two of <i>Botrychium matricariæfolium</i> (and these +a long distance apart), even though, on account +of their rarity and because I had never before +seen the latter, I spent considerable time, first +and last, in hunting for them. What can these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> +diminutive hermits have ever done or suffered, +that they should choose thus to live and die, +each by itself, in the vast solitude of a mountain +forest?</p> + +<p>It was already the middle of July, so that I +was too late for the better part of the wood +flowers. The oxalis (<i>Oxalis acetosella</i>), or +wood-sorrel was in bloom, however, carpeting +the ground in many places. I plucked a blossom +now and then to admire the loveliness of +the white cup, with its fine purple lines and +golden spots. If each had been painted on +purpose for a queen, they could not have been +more daintily touched. Yet here they were, +opening by the thousand, with no human eye +to look upon them. Quite as common (Wordsworth's +expression, "Ground flowers in flocks," +would have suited either) was the alpine enchanter's +night-shade (<i>Circæa alpina</i>); a most +frail and delicate thing, though it has little +other beauty. Who would ever mistrust, to +see it, that it would prove to be connected in +any way with the flaunting willow-herb, or fire-weed? +But such incongruities are not confined +to the "vegetable kingdom." The wood-nettle +was growing everywhere; a juicy-looking but +coarse weed, resembling our common roadside +nettles only in its blossoms. The cattle had +found out what I never should have surmised,—having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +had a taste of its sting,—that it is +good for food; there were great patches of it, +as likewise of the pale touch-me-not (<i>Impatiens +pallida</i>), which had been browsed over by +them. It seemed to me that some of the ferns, +the hay-scented for example, ought to have +suited them better; but they passed these all +by, as far as I could detect. About the edges +of the woods, and in favorable positions well +up the mountain-side, the flowering raspberry +was flourishing; making no display of itself, +but offering to any who should choose to turn +aside and look at them a few blossoms such as, +for beauty and fragrance, are worthy to be, as +they really are, cousin to the rose. On one of +my rambles I came upon some plants of a +strangely slim and prim aspect; nothing but +a straight, erect, military-looking, needle-like +stalk, bearing a spike of pods at the top, and +clasped at the middle by two small stemless +leaves. By some occult means (perhaps their +growing with <i>Tiarella</i> had something to do with +the matter) I felt at once that these must be +the mitrewort (<i>Mitella diphylla</i>). My prophetic +soul was not always thus explicit and infallible, +however. Other novelties I saw, about +which I could make no such happy impromptu +guess. And here the manual afforded little +assistance; for it has not yet been found prac<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>ticable +to "analyze," and so to identify plants +simply by the stem and foliage,—although I +remember to have been told, to be sure, of a +young lady who professed that at her college +the instruction in botany was so thorough that +it was possible for the student to name any +plant in the world from seeing only a single +leaf! But her college was not Harvard, and +Professor Gray has probably never so much as +heard of such an admirable method.</p> + +<p>On the whole, it is good to have the curiosity +piqued with here and there a vegetable +stranger,—its name and even its family relationship +a mystery. The leaf is nothing extraordinary, +perhaps, yet who knows but that +the bloom may be of the rarest beauty? Or the +leaf is of a gracious shape and texture, but how +shall we tell whether the flower will correspond +with it? No; we must do with them as with +chance acquaintances of our own kind. The +man looks every inch a gentleman; his face +alone seems a sufficient guaranty of good-breeding +and intelligence; but none the less,—and +not forgetting that charity thinketh no evil,—we +shall do well to wait till we have heard him +talk and seen how he will behave, before we put +a final label upon him. Wait for the blossom +and the fruit (the blossom <i>is</i> the fruit in its +first stage); for the old rule is still the true<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> +one,—alike in botany and in morals,—"By +their fruits ye shall know them."</p> + +<p>What a world within a world the forest is! +Under the trees were the shrubs,—knee-high +rock-maples making the ground verdant for +acres together, or dwarf thickets of yew, now +bearing green acorn-like berries; while below +these was a variegated carpet, oxalis and the +flower of Linnæus, ferns and club-mosses (the +glossy <i>Lycopodium lucidulum</i> was especially +plentiful), to say nothing of the true mosses +and the lichens.</p> + +<p>Of all these things I should have seen more, +no doubt, had not my head been so much of +the time in the tree-tops. For yonder were the +birds; and how could I be expected to notice +what lay at my feet, while I was watching intently +for a glimpse of the warbler that flitted +from twig to twig amid the foliage of some beech +or maple, the very lowest branch of which, +likely enough, was fifty or sixty feet above the +ground. It was in this way (so I choose to believe, +at any rate) that I walked four or five +times directly over the acute-leaved hepatica +before I finally discovered it, notwithstanding it +was one of the plants for which I had all the +while been on the lookout.</p> + +<p>I said that the birds were in the tree-tops; +but of course there were exceptions. Here and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +there was a thrush, feeding on the ground; or +an oven-bird might be seen picking his devious +way through the underwoods, in paths of his +own, and with a gait of studied and "sanctimonious" +originality. In the list of the lowly +must be put the winter wrens also; one need +never look skyward for <i>them</i>. For a minute or +two during my first ascent of Owl's Head I +had lively hopes of finding one of their nests. +Two or three of the birds were scolding earnestly +right about my feet, as it were, and +their cries redoubled, or so I imagined, when I +approached a certain large, moss-grown stump. +This I looked over carefully on all sides, putting +my fingers into every possible hole and +crevice, till it became evident that nothing +was to be gained by further search. (What +a long chapter we could write, any of us who +are ornithologists, about the nests we did not +find!) It dawned upon me a little later that +I had been fooled; that it was not the nest +which had been in question at all. That, wherever +it was, had been forsaken some days before; +and the birds were parents and young, the former +distracting my attention by their outcries, +while at the same moment they were ordering +the youngsters to make off as quickly as possible, +lest yonder hungry fiend should catch and devour them. +If wrens ever laugh, this pair must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> +have done so that evening, as they recalled to +each other my eager fumbling of that innocent +old stump. This opinion as to the meaning of +their conduct was confirmed in the course of a +few days, when I came upon another similar +group. These were at first quite unaware of my +presence; and a very pretty family picture they +made, in their snuggery of overthrown trees, +the father breaking out into a song once in a +while, or helping his mate to feed the young, +who were already able to pick up a good part +of their own living. Before long, however, one +of the pair caught sight of the intruder, and then +all at once the scene changed. The old birds +chattered and scolded, bobbing up and down in +their own ridiculous manner (although, considered +by itself, this gesture is perhaps no more +laughable than some which other orators are +applauded for making), and soon the place was +silent and to all appearance deserted.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding Owl's Head is in Canada, +the birds, as I soon found, were not such as +characterize the "Canadian Fauna." Olive-backed +thrushes, black-poll warblers, crossbills, +pine linnets, and Canada jays, all of which I +had myself seen in the White Mountains, were +none of them here; but instead, to my surprise, +were wood thrushes, scarlet tanagers, and wood +pewees,—the two latter species in comparative<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> +abundance. My first wood thrush was seen for +a moment only, and although he had given me a +plain sight of his back, I concluded that my eyes +must once more have played me false. But +within a day or two, when half-way down the +mountain path, I heard the well-known strain +ringing through the woods. It was unquestionably +that, and nothing else, for I sat down upon +a convenient log and listened for ten minutes or +more, while the singer ran through all those +inimitable variations which infallibly distinguish +the wood thrush's song from every other. And +afterward, to make assurance doubly sure, I +again saw the bird in the best possible position, +and at short range. On looking into the subject, +indeed, I learned that his being here was +nothing wonderful; since, while it is true, as far +as the sea-coast is concerned, that he seldom +ventures north of Massachusetts, it is none the +less down in the books that he does pass the +summer in Lower Canada, reaching it, probably, +by way of the valley of the St. Lawrence.</p> + +<p>A few robins were about the hotel, and I saw +a single veery in the woods, but the only members +of the thrush family that were present in +large numbers were the hermits. These sang +everywhere and at all hours. On the summit, +even at mid-day, I was invariably serenaded by +them. In fact they seemed more abundant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> +there than anywhere else; but they were often +to be heard by the lake-side, and in our apple +orchard, and once at least one of them sang at +some length from a birch-tree within a few feet +of the piazza, between it and the bowling alley. +As far as I have ever been able to discover, the +hermit, for all his name and consequent reputation, +is less timorous and more approachable +than any other New England representative of +his "sub-genus."</p> + +<p>On this trip I settled once more a question +which I had already settled several times,—the +question, namely, whether the wood thrush or +the hermit is the better singer. This time my +decision was in favor of the former. How the +case would have turned had the conditions been +reversed, had there been a hundred of the wood +thrushes for one of the hermits, of course I cannot +tell. So true is a certain old Latin proverb, +that in matters of this sort it is impossible for +a man to agree even with himself for any long +time together.</p> + +<p>The conspicuous birds, noticed by everybody, +were a family of hawks. The visitor might +have no appreciation of music; he might go up +the mountain and down again without minding +the thrushes or the wrens,—for there is nothing +about the human ear more wonderful than its +ability not to hear; but these hawks passed a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +good part of every day in screaming, and were +bound to be attended to by all but the stone-deaf. +A native of the region pointed out a +ledge, on which, according to his account, they +had made their nest for more than thirty years. +"We call them mountain hawks," he said, in +answer to an inquiry. The keepers of the hotel, +naturally enough, called them eagles; while a +young Canadian, who one day overtook me as +I neared the summit, and spent an hour there +in my company, pronounced them fish-hawks. +I asked him, carelessly, how he could be sure +of that, and he replied, after a little hesitation, +"Why, they are all the time over the lake; and +besides, they sometimes dive into the water and +come up with a fish." The last item would have +been good evidence, no doubt. My difficulty +was that I had never seen them near the lake, +and what was more conclusive, their heads were +dark-colored, if not really black. A few minutes +after this conversation I happened to have +my glass upon one of them as he approached +the mountain at some distance below us, when +my comrade asked, "Looking at that bird?" +"Yes," I answered; on which he continued, in +a matter-of-fact tone, "That's a crow;" plainly +thinking that, as I appeared to be slightly inquisitive +about such matters, it would be a kindness +to tell me a thing or two. I made bold to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> +intimate that the bird had a barred tail, and +must, I thought, be one of the hawks. He did +not dispute the point; and, in truth, he was a +modest and well-mannered young gentleman. +I liked him in that he knew both how to converse +and how to be silent; without which latter +qualification, indeed, not even an angel would be +a desirable mountain-top companion. He gave +me information about the surrounding country +such as I was very glad to get; and in the case +of the hawks my advantage over him, if any, +was mainly in this,—that my lack of knowledge +partook somewhat more fully than his of the nature +of Lord Bacon's "learned ignorance, that +knows itself."</p> + +<p>Whatever the birds may have been, "mountain +hawks," "fish-hawks," or duck-hawks, their +aerial evolutions, as seen from the summit, were +beautiful beyond description. One day in particular +three of them were performing together. +For a time they chased each other this way +and that at lightning speed, screaming wildly, +though whether in sport or anger I could not +determine. Then they floated majestically, high +above us, while now and then one would set his +wings and shoot down, down, till the precipitous +side of the mountain hid him from view; only +to reappear a minute afterward, soaring again, +with no apparent effort, to his former height.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p> + +<p>One of these noisy fellows served me an excellent +turn. It was the last day of my visit, +and I had just taken my farewell look at the +enchanting prospect from the summit, when I +heard the lisp of a brown creeper. This was +the first of his kind that I had seen here, and I +stopped immediately to watch him, in hopes he +would sing. Creeper-like he tried one tree after +another in quick succession, till at last, while he +was exploring a dead spruce which had toppled +half-way to the ground, a hawk screamed loudly +overhead. Instantly the little creature flattened +himself against the trunk, spreading his wings +to their very utmost and ducking his head until, +though I had been all the while eying his motions +through a glass at the distance of only a +few rods, it was almost impossible to believe +that yonder tiny brown fleck upon the bark was +really a bird and not a lichen. He remained in +this posture for perhaps a minute, only putting +up his head two or three times to peer cautiously +round. Unless I misjudged him, he did not +discriminate between the screech of the hawk +and the <i>ank, ank</i> of a nuthatch, which followed +it; and this, with an indefinable something in +his manner, made me suspect him of being a +young bird. Young or old, however, he had +learned one lesson well, at all events, one which +I hoped would keep him out of the talons of his +enemies for long days to come.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was pleasant to see how cheerfully he resumed +work as soon as the alarm was over. +<i>This</i> danger was escaped, at any rate; and why +should he make himself miserable with worrying +about the next? He had the true philosophy. +We who pity the birds for their numberless +perils are ourselves in no better case. Consumption, +fevers, accidents, enemies of every +name are continually lying in wait for our destruction. +We walk surrounded with them; +seeing them not, to be sure, but knowing, all +the same, that they are there; yet feeling, too, +like the birds, that in some way or other we +shall elude them a while longer, and holding +at second hand the truth which these humble +creatures practice upon instinctively,—"Sufficient +unto the day is the evil thereof."</p> + +<p>Not far from this spot, on a previous occasion, +I had very unexpectedly come face to face +with another of the creeper's blood-thirsty persecutors. +It happened that a warbler was singing +in a lofty birch, and being in doubt about +the song (which was a little like the Nashville's, +but longer in each of its two parts and +ending with a less confused flourish), I was of +course very desirous to see the singer. But +to catch sight of a small bird amid thick foliage, +fifty feet or more above you, is not an easy +matter, as I believe I have already once re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>marked. +So when I grew weary of the attempt, +I bethought myself to try the efficacy of +an old device, well known to all collectors, and +proceeded to imitate, as well as I could, the +cries of some bird in distress. My warbler was +imperturbable. He had no nest or young to be +anxious about, and kept on singing. But pretty +soon I was apprised of something in the air, +coming toward me, and looking up, beheld a +large owl who appeared to be dropping straight +upon my head. He saw me in time to avoid +such a catastrophe, however, and, describing a +graceful curve, alighted on a low branch near +by, and stared at me as only an owl can. Then +away he went, while at the same instant a jay +dashed into the thicket and out again, shouting +derisively, "I saw you! I saw you!" Evidently +the trick was a good one, and moderately +well played; in further confirmation of which +the owl hooted twice in response to some peculiarly +happy efforts on my part, and then actually +came back again for another look. This +proved sufficient, and he quickly disappeared; +retiring to his leafy covert or hollow tree, to +meditate, no doubt, on the strange creature +whose unseasonable noises had disturbed his +afternoon slumbers. Likely enough he could +not readily fall asleep again for wondering how +I could possibly find my way through the woods<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> +in the darkness of daylight. So difficult is it, +we may suppose, for even an owl to put himself +in another's place and see with another's eyes.</p> + +<p>This little episode over, I turned again to +the birch-tree, and fortunately the warbler's +throat was of too fiery a color to remain long +concealed; though it was at once a pleasure +and an annoyance to find myself still unacquainted +with at least one song out of the +Blackburnian's repertory. In times past I had +carefully attended to his music, and within only +a few days, in the White Mountain Notch, I +had taken note of two of its variations; but +here was still another, which neither began +with <i>zillup, zillup</i>, nor ended with <i>zip, zip</i>,—notes +which I had come to look upon as the +Blackburnian's sign-vocal. Yet it must have +been my fault, not his, that I failed to recognize +him; for every bird's voice has something characteristic +about it, just as every human voice +has tones and inflections which those who are +sufficiently familiar with its owner will infallibly +detect. The ear feels them, although words +cannot describe them. Articulate speech is but +a modern invention, as it were, in comparison +with the five senses; and since practice makes +perfect, it is natural enough that every one of +the five should easily, and as a matter of course, +perceive shades of difference so slight that lan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>guage, +in its present rudimentary state, cannot +begin to take account of them.</p> + +<p>The other warblers at Owl's Head, as far as +they came under my notice, were the black-and-white +creeper, the blue yellow-backed warbler, +the Nashville, the black-throated green, the +black-throated blue, the yellow-rumped, the +chestnut-sided, the oven-bird (already spoken +of), the small-billed water thrush, the Maryland +yellow-throat, the Canadian flycatcher, and the +redstart.</p> + +<p>The water thrush (I saw only one individual) +was by the lake-side, and within a rod or two of +the bowling alley. What a strange, composite +creature he is! thrush, warbler, and sandpiper +all in one; with such a bare-footed, bare-legged +appearance, too, as if he must always be ready +to wade; and such a Saint Vitus's dance! His +must be a curious history. In particular, I +should like to know the origin of his teetering +habit, which seems to put him among the beach +birds. Can it be that such frequenters of shallow +water are rendered less conspicuous by this +wave-like, up-and-down motion, and have actually +adopted it as a means of defense, just as they +and many more have taken on a color harmonizing +with that of their ordinary surroundings?<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> +<p>The black-throated blue warblers were common, +and like most of their tribe were waiting +upon offspring just out of the nest. I watched +one as he offered his charge a rather large insect. +The awkward fledgeling let it fall three +times; and still the parent picked it up again, +only chirping mildly, as if to say, "Come, come, +my beauty, don't be quite so bungling." But +even in the midst of their family cares, they +still found leisure for music; and as they and +the black-throated greens were often singing together, +I had excellent opportunities to compare +the songs of the two species. The voices, while +both very peculiar, are at the same time so +nearly alike that it was impossible for me on +hearing the first note of either strain to tell +whose it was. With the voice the similarity +ends, however; for the organ does not make +the singer, and while the blue seldom attempts +more than a harsh, monotonous <i>kree, kree, kree</i>, +the green possesses the true lyrical gift, so that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> +few of our birds have a more engaging song than +his simple <i>Trees, trees, murmuring trees</i>, or if +you choose to understand it so, <i>Sleep, sleep, +pretty one, sleep</i>.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> + +<p>I saw little of the blue yellow-backed warbler, +but whenever I took the mountain path I +was certain to hear his whimsical upward-running +song, broken off at the end with a smart +snap. He seemed to have chosen the neighborhood +of the fernery for his peculiar haunt, a +piece of good taste quite in accord with his general +character. Nothing could well be more +beautiful than this bird's plumage; and his +nest, which is "globular, with an entrance on +one side," is described as a wonder of elegance; +while in grace of movement not even the titmouse +can surpass him. Strange that such an +exquisite should have so fantastic a song.</p> + +<p>I have spoken of the rainy weather. There +were times when the piazza was as far out-of-doors +as it was expedient to venture. But even +then I was not without excellent feathered +society. Red-eyed vireos (one pair had their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +nest within twenty feet of the hotel), chippers, +song sparrows, snow-birds, robins, waxwings, +and phœbes were to be seen almost any moment, +while the hermit thrushes, as I have before +mentioned, paid us occasional visits. The +most familiar of our door-yard friends, however, +to my surprise, were the yellow-rumped warblers. +Till now I had never found them at +home except in the forests of the White Mountains; +but here they were, playing the <i>rôle</i> +which in Massachusetts we are accustomed to +see taken by the summer yellow-birds, and by +no others of the family. At first, knowing that +this species was said to build in low evergreens, +I looked suspiciously at some small spruces +which lined the walk to the pier; but after a +while I happened to see one of the birds flying +into a rock-maple with something in his bill, and +following him with my eye, beheld him alight +on the edge of his nest. "About four feet +from the ground," the book said (the latest +book, too); but this lawless pair had chosen a +position which could hardly be less than ten +times that height,—considerably higher, at all +events, than the eaves of the three-story house. +It was out of reach in the small topmost +branches, but I watched its owners at my leisure, +as the maple was not more than two rods +from my window. At this time the nestlings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> +were nearly ready to fly, and in the course of a +day or two I saw one of them sitting in a tree in +the midst of a drenching rain. On my offering +to lay hold of him he dropped into the grass, +and when I picked him up both parents began +to fly about me excitedly, with loud outcries. +The male, especially, went nearly frantic, entering +the bowling alley where I happened to be, +and alighting on the floor; then, taking to the +bole of a tree, he fluttered helplessly upon it, +spreading his wings and tail, seeming to say as +plainly as words could have done, "Look, you +monster! here's another young bird that can't +fly; why don't you come and catch him?" +The acting was admirable,—all save the spreading +of the tail; that was a false note, for the +youngster in my hand had no tail feathers at +all. I put the fellow upon a tree, whence he +quickly flew to the ground (he could fly down +but not up), and soon both parents were again +supplying him with food. The poor thing had +not eaten a morsel for possibly ten minutes, a +very long fast for a bird of his age. I hoped he +would fall into the hands of no worse enemy +than myself, but the chances seemed against +him. The first few days after quitting the nest +must be full of perils for such helpless innocents.</p> + +<p>For the credit of my own sex I was pleased<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> +to notice that it was the father-bird who manifested +the deepest concern and the readiest +wit, not to say the greatest courage; but I am +obliged in candor to acknowledge that this feature +of the case surprised me not a little.</p> + +<p>In what language shall I speak of the song of +these familiar myrtle warblers, so that my praise +may correspond in some degree with the gracious +and beautiful simplicity of the strain itself? +For music to be heard constantly, right under +one's window, it could scarcely be improved; +sweet, brief, and remarkably unobtrusive, without +sharpness or emphasis; a trill not altogether +unlike the pine-creeping warbler's, but less matter-of-fact +and business-like. I used to listen +to it before I rose in the morning, and it was +to be heard at intervals all day long. Occasionally +it was given in an absent-minded, meditative +way, in a kind of half-voice, as if the +happy creature had no thought of what he was +doing. Then it was at its best, but one needed +to be near the singer.</p> + +<p>In a clearing back of the hotel, but surrounded +by the forest, were always a goodly +company of birds, among the rest a family of +yellow-bellied woodpeckers; and in a second +similar place were white-throated sparrows, +Maryland yellow-throats, and chestnut-sided +warblers, the last two feeding their young.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +Immature warblers are a puzzling set. The +birds themselves have no difficulty, I suppose; +but seeing young and old together, and noting +how unlike they are, I have before now been +reminded of Launcelot Gobbo's saying, "It is +a wise father that knows his own child."</p> + +<p>While traversing the woods between these +two clearings I saw, as I thought, a chimney +swift fly out of the top of a tree which had been +broken off at a height of twenty-five or thirty +feet. I stopped, and pretty soon the thing was +repeated; but even then I was not quick enough +to be certain whether the bird really came from +the stump or only out of the forest behind it. +Accordingly, after sounding the trunk to make +sure it was hollow, I sat down in a clump of +raspberry bushes, where I should be sufficiently +concealed, and awaited further developments. +I waited and waited, while the mosquitoes, +seeing how sheltered I was from the breeze, +gathered about my head in swarms. A winter +wren at my elbow struck up to sing, going +over and over with his exquisite tune; and a +scarlet tanager, also, not far off, did what he +could—which was somewhat less than the +wren's—to relieve the tedium of my situation. +Finally, when my patience was well-nigh exhausted,—for +the afternoon was wearing away +and I had some distance to walk,—a swift flew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> +past me from behind, and, with none of that +poising over the entrance such as is commonly +seen when a swift goes down a chimney, went +straight into the trunk. In half a minute or +less he reappeared without a sound, and was +out of sight in a second. Then I picked up my +rubber coat, and with a blessing on the wren +and the tanager, and a malediction on the mosquitoes +(so unjust does self-interest make us), +started homeward.</p> + +<p>Conservatives and radicals! Even the swifts, +it seems, are divided into these two classes. +"Hollow trees were good enough for our fathers; +who are we that we should assume to +know more than all the generations before us? +To change is not of necessity to make progress. +Let those who will, take up with smoky chimneys; +for our part we prefer the old way."</p> + +<p>Thus far the conservatives; but now comes +the party of modern ideas. "All that is very +well," say they. "Our ancestors were worthy +folk enough; they did the best they could in +their time. But the world moves, and wise +birds will move with it. Why should we make +a fetish out of some dead forefather's example? +<i>We</i> are alive now. To refuse to take advantage +of increased light and improved conditions +may look like filial piety in the eyes of +some: to us such conduct appears nothing better<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> +than a distrust of the Divine Providence, a subtle +form of atheism. What are chimneys for, +pray? And as for soot and smoke, we were +made to live in them. Otherwise, let some of +our opponents be kind enough to explain why +we were created with black feathers."</p> + +<p>So, in brief, the discussion runs; with the +usual result, no doubt, that each side convinces +itself.</p> + +<p>We may assume, however, that these old-school +and new-school swifts do not carry their +disagreement so far as actually to refuse to hold +fellowship with one another. Conscience is but +imperfectly developed in birds, as yet, and they +can hardly feel each other's sins and errors of +belief (if indeed these things be two, and not +one) quite so keenly as men are accustomed to +do.</p> + +<p>After all, it is something to be grateful for, +this diversity of habit. We could not spare +the swifts from our villages, and it would be +too bad to lose them out of the Northern forests. +May they live and thrive, both parties +of them.</p> + +<p>I am glad, also, for the obscurity which attends +their annual coming and going. Whether +they hibernate or migrate, the secret is their +own; and for my part, I wish them the wit to +keep it. In this age, when the world is in such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> +danger of becoming omniscient before the time, +it is good to have here and there a mystery in +reserve. Though it be only a little one, we may +well cherish it as a treasure.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> The guide-book allows two hours for the mile and a half on +Owl's Head, while it gives only an hour and a half for the three +miles up Mount Clinton—from the Crawford House.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> To bear out what has been said in the text concerning the +abundance of ferns at Owl's Head, I subjoin a list of the species +observed; premising that the first interest of my trip was not +botanical, and that I explored but a very small section of the +woods:—</p> +<ul style="list-style:none;"> +<li><i>Polypodium vulgare.</i></li> +<li><i>Adiantum pedatum.</i></li> +<li><i>Pteris aquilina.</i></li> +<li><i>Asplenium Trichomanes.</i></li> +<li><i>A. thelypteroides.</i></li> +<li><i>A. Filix-fœmina.</i></li> +<li><i>Phegopteris polypodioides.</i></li> +<li><i>P. Dryopteris.</i></li> +<li><i>Aspidium marginale.</i></li> +<li><i>A. spinulosum</i>, variety undetermined.</li> +<li><i>A. spinulosum</i>, var. <i>dilatatum</i>.</li> +<li><i>A. Goldianum.</i></li> +<li><i>A. acrostichoides.</i></li> +<li><i>A. aculeatum</i>, var. <i>Braunii</i>.</li> +<li><i>Cystopteris bulbifera.</i></li> +<li><i>C. fragilis.</i></li> +<li><i>Onoclea struthiopteris.</i></li> +<li><i>O. sensibilis.</i></li> +<li><i>Woodsia Ilvensis.</i></li> +<li><i>Dicksonia punctilobula.</i></li> +<li><i>Osmunda regalis.</i></li> +<li><i>O. Claytoniana.</i></li> +<li><i>O. cinnamomea.</i></li> +<li><i>Botrychium lanceolatum.</i></li> +<li><i>B. matricariæfolium.</i></li> +<li><i>B. ternatum.</i></li> +<li><i>B. Virginianum.</i></li> +</ul> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> This bird (<i>Siurus nævius</i>) is remarkable for the promptness +with which he sets out on his autumnal journey, appearing in +Eastern Massachusetts early in August. Last year (1884) one was +in my door-yard on the morning of the 7th. I heard his loud chip, +and looking out of the window, saw him first on the ground and +then in an ash-tree near a crowd of house sparrows. The latter +were scolding at him with their usual cordiality, while he, on his +part, seemed under some kind of fascination, returning again and +again to walk as closely as he dared about the blustering crew. +His curiosity was laughable. Evidently he thought, considering +what an ado the sparrows were making, that something serious +must be going on, something worth any bird's while to turn aside +for a moment to look into. The innocent recluse! if he had lived +where I do he would have grown used to such "windy congresses."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> After all that has been said about the "pathetic fallacy," so +called, it remains true that Nature speaks to us according to our +mood. With all her "various language" she "cannot talk and +find ears too." And so it happens that some, listening to the +black-throated green warbler, have brought back a report of +"<i>Cheese, cheese, a little more cheese</i>." Prosaic and hungry +souls! This voice out of the pine-trees was not for them. They +have caught the rhythm but missed the poetry.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="A_MONTHS_MUSIC" id="A_MONTHS_MUSIC"></a>A MONTH'S MUSIC</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And now 'twas like all instruments,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now like a lonely flute;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And now it is an angel's song,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That makes the heavens be mute.<br /></span> +<span class="signature_2">Coleridge.</span><br /> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>A MONTH'S MUSIC.</p> + + +<p>The morning of May-day was bright and +spring-like, and should have been signalized, it +seemed to me, by the advent of a goodly number +of birds; but the only new-comer to be found +was a single black-and-white creeper. Glad as +I was to see this lowly acquaintance back again +after his seven months' absence, and natural as +he looked on the edge of Warbler Swamp, bobbing +along the branches in his own unique, end-for-end +fashion, there was no resisting a sensation +of disappointment. Why could not the +wood thrush have been punctual? <i>He</i> would +have made the woods ring with an ode worthy +of the festival. Possibly the hermits—who +had been with us for several days in silence—divined +my thoughts. At all events, one of them +presently broke into a song—the first <i>Hylocichla</i> +note of the year. Never was voice more +beautiful. Like the poet's dream, it "left my +after-morn content."</p> + +<p>It is too much to be expected that the wood<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> +thrush should hold himself bound to appear at +a given point on a fixed date. How can we +know the multitude of reasons, any one of which +may detain him for twenty-four hours, or even +for a week? It is enough for us to be assured, +in general, that the first ten days of the month +will bring this master of the choir. The present +season he arrived on the 6th—the veery +with him; last year he was absent until the +8th; while on the two years preceding he assisted +at the observance of May-day.</p> + +<p>All in all, I must esteem this thrush our greatest +singer; although the hermit might dispute +the palm, perhaps, but that he is merely a semi-annual +visitor in most parts of Massachusetts. +If perfection be held to consist in the absence +of flaw, the hermit's is unquestionably the more +nearly perfect song of the two. Whatever he +attempts is done beyond criticism; but his range +and variety are far less than his rival's, and, for +my part, I can forgive the latter if now and then +he reaches after a note lying a little beyond his +best voice, and withal is too commonly wanting +in that absolute simplicity and ease which lend +such an ineffable charm to the performance of +the hermit and the veery. Shakespeare is not a +faultless poet, but in the existing state of public +opinion it will hardly do to set Gray above him.</p> + +<p>In the course of the month about which I am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> +now writing (May, 1884) I was favored with +thrush music to a quite unwonted degree. With +the exception of the varied thrush (a New-Englander +by accident only) and the mocking-bird, +there was not one of our Massachusetts representatives +of the family who did not put me in +his debt. The robin, the brown thrush, the cat-bird, +the wood thrush, the veery, and even the +hermit (what a magnificent sextette!)—so +many I counted upon hearing, as a matter of +course; but when to these were added the Arctic +thrushes—the olive-backed and the gray-cheeked—I +gladly confessed surprise. I had +never heard either species before, south of the +White Mountains; nor, as far as I then knew, +had anybody else been more fortunate than +myself. Yet the birds themselves were seemingly +unaware of doing anything new or noteworthy. +This was especially the case with the +olive-backs; and after listening to them for three +days in succession I began to suspect that they +<i>were</i> doing nothing new,—that they had sung +every spring in the same manner, only, in the +midst of the grand May medley, my ears had +somehow failed to take account of their contribution. +Their fourth (and farewell) appearance +was on the 23d, when they sang both morning +and evening. At that time they were in a +bit of swamp, among some tall birches, and as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> +I caught the familiar and characteristic notes—a +brief ascending spiral—I was almost ready +to believe myself in some primeval New Hampshire +forest; an illusion not a little aided by the +frequent lisping of black-poll warblers, who +chanced just then to be remarkably abundant.</p> + +<p>It was on the same day, and within a short distance +of the same spot, that the Alice thrushes, +or gray-cheeks, were in song. Their music was +repeated a good many times, but unhappily it +ceased whenever I tried to get near the birds. +Then, as always, it put me in mind of the +veery's effort, notwithstanding a certain part +of the strain was quite out of the veery's manner, +and the whole was pitched in decidedly +too high a key. It seemed, also, as if what I +heard could not be the complete song; but I +had been troubled with the same feeling on +previous occasions, and a friend whose opportunities +have been better than mine reports a +similiar experience; so that it is perhaps not +uncharitable to conclude that the song, even at +its best, is more or less broken and amorphous.</p> + +<p>In their Northern homes these gray-cheeks +are excessively wild and unapproachable; but +while traveling they are little if at all worse +than their congeners in this respect,—taking +short flights when disturbed, and often doing +nothing more than to hop upon some low perch +to reconnoitre the intruder.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span></p> + +<p>At the risk of being thought to reflect upon +the acuteness of more competent observers, I am +free to express my hope of hearing the music of +both these noble visitors again another season. +For it is noticeable how common such things +tend to become when once they are discovered. +An enthusiastic botanical collector told me that +for years he searched far and near for the adder's-tongue +fern, till one day he stumbled upon it in +a place over which he had long been in the habit +of passing. Marking the peculiarities of the +spot he straightway wrote to a kindred spirit, +whom he knew to have been engaged in the +same hunt, suggesting that he would probably +find the coveted plants in a particular section +of the meadow back of his own house (in Concord); +and sure enough, the next day's mail +brought an envelope from his friend, inclosing +specimens of <i>Ophioglossum vulgatum</i>, with the +laconic but sufficient message, <i>Eureka!</i> There +are few naturalists, I suspect, who could not +narrate adventures of a like sort.</p> + +<p>One such befell me during this same month, +in connection with the wood wagtail, or golden-crowned +thrush. Not many birds are more +abundant than he in my neighborhood, and I +fancied myself pretty well acquainted with his +habits and manners. Above all, I had paid +attention to his celebrated love-song, listening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> +to it almost daily for several summers. Thus +far it had invariably been given out in the afternoon, +and on the wing. To my mind, indeed, +this was by far its most interesting feature (for +in itself the song is by no means of surpassing +beauty), and I had even been careful to record +the earliest hour at which I had heard it—three +o'clock <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> But on the 6th of May aforesaid +I detected a bird practicing this very tune in +the morning, and from a perch! I set the fact +down without hesitation as a wonder,—a purely +exceptional occurrence, the repetition of which +was not to be looked for. Anything might happen +once. Only four days afterwards, however, +at half-past six in the morning, I had stooped +to gather some peculiarly bright-colored anemones +(I can see the patch of rosy blossoms at +this moment, although I am writing by a blazing +fire while the snow is falling without), when +my ear caught the same song again; and keeping +my position, I soon descried the fellow stepping +through the grass within ten yards of me, +caroling as he walked. The hurried warble, +with the common <i>Weechee, weechee, weechee</i> +interjected in the midst, was reiterated perhaps +a dozen times,—the full evening strain, but in +a rather subdued tone. He was under no excitement, +and appeared to be entirely by himself; +in fact, when he had made about half the cir<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>cuit +round me he flew into a low bush and proceeded +to dress his feathers listlessly. Probably +what I had overheard was nothing more than a +rehearsal. Within a week or two he would need +to do his very best in winning the fair one of +his choice, and for that supreme moment he had +already put himself in training. The wise-hearted +and obliging little beau! I must have +been the veriest churl not to wish him his pick +of all the feminine wagtails in the wood. As +for the pink anemones, they had done me a +double kindness, in requital for which I could +only carry them to the city, where, in their +modesty, they would have blushed to a downright +crimson had they been conscious of one-half +the admiration which their loveliness called +forth.</p> + +<p>Before the end of the month (it was on the +morning of the 18th) I once more heard the +wagtail's song from the ground. This time the +affair was anything but a rehearsal. There +were two birds,—a lover and his lass,—and +the wooing waxed fast and furious. For that +matter, it looked not so much like love-making +as like an aggravated case of assault and battery. +But, as I say, the male was warbling, and not +improbably (so strange are the ways of the +world), if he had been a whit less pugnacious in +his addresses, his lady-love, who was plainly well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> +able to take care of herself, would have thought +him deficient in earnestness. At any rate, the +wood wagtail is not the only bird whose courtship +has the appearance of a scrimmage; and I +believe there are still tribes of men among whom +similar practices prevail, although the greater +part of our race have learned, by this time, to +take somewhat less literally the old proverb, +"None but the brave deserve the fair." Love, +it is true, is still recognized as one of the passions +(in theory at least) even among the most +highly civilized peoples; but the tendency is +more and more to count it a <i>tender</i> passion.</p> + +<p>While I am on the subject of marriage I may +as well mention the white-eyed vireo. It had +come to be the 16th of the month, and as yet +I had neither seen nor heard anything of this +obstreperous genius; so I made a special pilgrimage +to a certain favorite haunt of his—Woodcock +Swamp—to ascertain if he had arrived. +After fifteen minutes or more of waiting +I was beginning to believe him still absent, +when he burst out suddenly with his loud and +unmistakable <i>Chip-a-weé-o</i>. "Who are <i>you</i>, +now?" the saucy fellow seemed to say, "Who +are <i>you</i>, now?" Pretty soon a pair of the +birds appeared near me, the male protesting his +affection at a frantic rate, and the female repelling +his advances with a snappish determina<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>tion +which might have driven a timid suitor +desperate. He posed before her, puffing out his +feathers, spreading his tail, and crying hysterically, +<i>Yip, yip, yaah</i>,—the last note a downright +whine or snarl, worthy of the cat-bird. +Poor soul! he was well-nigh beside himself, and +could not take <i>no</i> for an answer, even when the +word was emphasized with an ugly dab of his +beloved's beak. The pair shortly disappeared +in the swamp, and I was not privileged to witness +the upshot of the battle; but I consoled +myself with believing that Phyllis knew how +far she could prudently carry her resistance, +and would have the discretion to yield before +her adorer's heart was irremediably broken.</p> + +<p>In this instance there was no misconceiving +the meaning of the action; but whoever +watches birds in the pairing season is often at +his wit's end to know what to make of their +demonstrations. One morning a linnet chased +another past me down the road, flying at the +very top of his speed, and singing as he flew; +not, to be sure, the full and copious warble such +as is heard when the bird hovers, but still a +lively tune. I looked on in astonishment. It +seemed incredible that any creature could sing +while putting forth such tremendous muscular +exertions; and yet, as if to show that this was +a mere nothing to him, the finch had no sooner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> +struck a perch than he broke forth again in his +loudest and most spirited manner, and continued +without a pause for two or three times the +length of his longest ordinary efforts. "What +lungs he must have!" I said to myself; and at +once fell to wondering what could have stirred +him up to such a pitch of excitement, and +whether the bird he had been pursuing was +male or female. <i>He</i> would have said, perhaps, +if he had said anything, that that was none of +my business.</p> + +<p>What I have been remarking with regard to +the proneness of newly discovered things to become +all at once common was well illustrated +for me about this time by these same linnets, +or purple finches. One rainy morning, while +making my accustomed rounds, enveloped in +rubber, I stopped to notice a blue-headed vireo, +who, as I soon perceived, was sitting lazily in +the top of a locust-tree, looking rather disconsolate, +and ejaculating with not more than half +his customary voice and emphasis, <i>Mary Ware!—Mary +Ware!</i> His indolence struck me as +very surprising for a vireo; still I had no question +about his identity (he sat between me and +the sun) till I changed my position, when behold! +the vireo was a linnet. A strange performance, +indeed! What could have set this +fluent vocalist to practicing exercises of such an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> +inferior, disconnected, piecemeal sort? Within +the next week or two, however, the same game +was played upon me several times, and in different +places. No doubt the trick is an old one, +familiar to many observers, but to me it had all +the charm of novelty.</p> + +<p>There are no birds so conservative but that +they will now and then indulge in some unexpected +stroke of originality. Few are more artless +and regular in their musical efforts than +the pine warblers; yet I have seen one of these +sitting at the tip of a tree, and repeating a trill +which toward the close invariably declined by +an interval of perhaps three tones. Even the +chipping sparrow, whose lay is yet more monotonous +and formal than the pine warbler's, is +not absolutely confined to his score. I once +heard him when his trill was divided into two +portions, the concluding half being much higher +than the other—unless my ear was at fault, +exactly an octave higher. This singular refrain +was given out six or eight times without the +slightest alteration. Such freaks as these, however, +are different from the linnet's <i>Mary Ware</i>, +inasmuch as they are certainly the idiosyncrasies +of single birds, not a part of the artistic +proficiency of the species as a whole.</p> + +<p>During this month I was lucky enough to +close a little question which I had been hold<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>ing +open for a number of years concerning our +very common and familiar black-throated green +warbler. This species, as is well known, has +two perfectly well-defined tunes of about equal +length, entirely distinct from each other. My +uncertainty had been as to whether the two are +ever used by the same individual. I had listened +a good many times, first and last, in hopes +to settle the point, but hitherto without success. +Now, however, a bird, while under my eye, delivered +both songs, and then went on to give +further proof of his versatility by repeating one +of them <i>minus</i> the final note. This abbreviation, +by the way, is not very infrequent with +<i>Dendrœca virens</i>; and he has still another variation, +which I hear once in a while every season, +consisting of a grace note introduced in +the middle of the measure, in such a connection +as to form what in musical language is denominated +a turn. At my first hearing of this +I looked upon it as the private property of the +bird to whom I was listening,—an improvement +which he had accidentally hit upon. But +it is clearly more than that; for besides hearing +it in different seasons, I have noticed it in +places a good distance apart. Perhaps, after +the lapse of ten thousand years, more or less, +the whole tribe of black-throated greens will +have adopted it; and then, when some ornithol<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>ogist +chances to fall in with an old-fashioned +specimen who still clings to the plain song as +we now commonly hear it, he will fancy <i>that</i> +to be the very latest modern improvement, and +proceed forthwith to enlighten the scientific +world with a description of the novelty.</p> + +<p>Hardly any incident of the month interested +me more than a discovery (I must call it such, +although I am almost ashamed to allude to it +at all) which I made about the black-capped +titmouse. For several mornings in succession +I was greeted on waking by the trisyllabic +minor whistle of a chickadee, who piped again +and again not far from my window. There +could be little doubt about its being the bird +that I knew to be excavating a building site in +one of our apple-trees; but I was usually not +out-of-doors until about five o'clock, by which +time the music always came to an end. So one +day I rose half an hour earlier than common +on purpose to have a look at my little matutinal +serenader. My conjecture proved correct. +There sat the tit, within a few feet of his apple-branch +door, throwing back his head in the +truest lyrical fashion, and calling <i>Hear, hear +me</i>, with only a breathing space between the +repetitions of the phrase. He was as plainly +<i>singing</i>, and as completely absorbed in his work, +as any thrasher or hermit thrush could have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> +been. Heretofore I had not realized that these +whistled notes were so strictly a song, and as +such set apart from all the rest of the chickadee's +repertory of sweet sounds; and I was delighted +to find my tiny pet recognizing thus +unmistakably the difference between prose and +poetry.</p> + +<p>But we linger unduly with these lesser lights +of song. After the music of the Alice and the +Swainson thrushes, the chief distinction of May, +1884, as far as my Melrose woods were concerned, +was the entirely unexpected advent of a +colony of rose-breasted grosbeaks. For five seasons +I had called these hunting-grounds my own, +and during that time had seen perhaps about +the same number of specimens of this royal species, +always in the course of the vernal migration. +The present year the first comer was observed +on the 15th—solitary and, except for an +occasional monosyllable, silent. Only one more +straggler, I assumed. But on the following +morning I saw four others, all of them males in +full plumage, and two of them in song. To one +of these I attended for some time. According +to my notes "he sang beautifully, although not +with any excitement, nor as if he were doing his +best. The tone was purer and smoother than +the robin's, more mellow and sympathetic, and +the strain was especially characterized by a drop<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>ping +to a fine contralto note at the end." The +next day I saw nothing of my new friends till +toward night. Then, after tea, I strolled into +the chestnut grove, and walking along the path, +noticed a robin singing freely, remarking the +fact because this noisy bird had been rather +quiet of late. Just as I passed under him, however, +it flashed upon me that the voice and song +were not exactly the robin's. They must be +the rose-breast's then; and stepping back to +look up, I beheld him in gorgeous attire, perched +in the top of an oak. He sang and sang, while +I stood quietly listening. Pretty soon he repeated +the strain once or twice in a softer voice, +and I glanced up instinctively to see if a female +were with him; but instead, there were two +males sitting within a yard of each other. They +flew off after a little, and I resumed my saunter. +A party of chimney swifts were shooting hither +and thither over the trees, a single wood thrush +was chanting not far away, and in another direction +a tanager was rehearsing his <i>chip-cherr</i> +with characteristic assiduity. Presently I began +to be puzzled by a note which came now +from this side, now from that, and sounded like +the squeak of a pair of rusty shears. My first +conjecture about the origin of this <i>hic</i> it would +hardly serve my reputation to make public; but +I was not long in finding out that it was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> +grosbeaks' own, and that, instead of three, there +were at least twice that number of these brilliant +strangers in the grove. Altogether, the +half hour was one of very enjoyable excitement; +and when, later in the evening, I sat down to +my note-book, I started off abruptly in a hortatory +vein,—"Always take another walk!"</p> + +<p>In the morning, naturally enough, I again +turned my steps toward the chestnut grove. +The rose-breasts were still there, and one of them +earned my thanks by singing on the wing, flying +slowly—half-hovering, as it were—and +singing the ordinary song, but more continuously +than usual. That afternoon one of them +was in tune at the same time with a robin, affording +me the desired opportunity for a direct +comparison. "It is really wonderful," my record +says, "how nearly alike the two songs are; +but the robin's tone is plainly inferior,—less +mellow and full. In general, too, his strain is +pitched higher; and, what perhaps is the most +striking point of difference, it frequently ends +with an attempt at a note which is a little out +of reach, so that the voice breaks." (This last +defect, by the bye, the robin shares with his +cousin the wood thrush, as already remarked.) +A few days afterwards, to confirm my own impression +about the likeness of the two songs, I +called the attention of a friend with whom I was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> +walking, to a grosbeak's notes, and asked him +what bird's they were. He, having a good ear +for matters of this kind, looked somewhat dazed +at such an inquiry, but answered promptly, +"Why, a robin's, of course." As one day after +another passed, however, and I listened to both +species in full voice on every hand, I came to +feel that I had overestimated the resemblance. +With increasing familiarity I discerned more +and more clearly the respects in which the songs +differed, and each came to have to my ear an +individuality strictly its own. They were alike, +doubtless,—as the red-eyed vireo's and the +blue-head's are,—and yet they were not alike. +Of one thing I grew, better and better assured: +the grosbeak is out of all comparison the finer +musician of the two. To judge from my last-year's +friends, however, his concert season is +very short—the more's the pity.</p> + +<p>I begin to perceive (indeed it has been dawning +upon me for some time) that our essay is +not to fulfill the promise of its caption. Instead +of the glorious fullness and variety of the +month's music (for May, in this latitude, is the +musical month of months) the reader has been +put off with a few of the more exceptional features +of the carnival. He will overlook it, I +trust; and as for the great body of the chorus, +who have not been honored with so much as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> +mention, they, I am assured, are far too amiable +to take offense at any such unintentional +slight. Let me conclude, then, with transcribing +from my note-book an evening entry or two. +Music is never so sweet as at the twilight hour; +and the extracts may serve at least as a convenient +and quasi-artistic ending for a paper +which, so to speak, has run away with its +writer. The first is under date of the 19th:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Walked, after dinner, in the Old Road, as I have +done often of late, and sat for a while at the entrance +to Pyrola Grove. A wood thrush was singing not +far off, and in the midst a Swainson thrush vouchsafed +a few measures. I wished the latter would continue, +but was thankful for the little. A tanager called excitedly, +<i>Chip-cherr</i>, moving from tree to tree meanwhile, +once to a birch in full sight, and then into the +pine over my head. As it grew dark the crowd of +warblers were still to be seen feeding busily, making +the most of the lingering daylight. A small-billed +water thrush was teetering along a willow-branch, +while his congeners, the oven-birds, were practicing +their aerial hymn. One of these went past me as I +stood by the roadside, rising very gradually into the +air and repeating all the way, <i>Chip, chip, chip, chip</i>, +till at last he broke into the warble, which was a full +half longer than usual. He was evidently doing his +prettiest. No vireos sang after sunset. A Maryland +yellow-throat piped once or twice (he is habitually an +evening musician), and the black-throated greens were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> +in tune, but the rest of the warblers were otherwise +engaged. Finally, just as a distant whippoorwill began +to call, a towhee sang once from the woods; and +a moment later the stillness was broken by the sudden +outburst of a thrasher. 'Now then,' he seemed to +say, 'if the rest of you are quite done, I will see what +<i>I</i> can do.' He kept on for two or three minutes in +his best manner, and at the same time a pair of cat-birds +were whispering love together in the thicket. +Then an ill-timed carriage came rattling along the +road, and when it had passed, every bird's voice was +hushed. The hyla's tremulous cry was the only musical +sound to be heard. As I started away, one of +these tree-frogs hopped out of my path, and I picked +him up at the second or third attempt. What did he +think, I wonder, when I turned him on his back to +look at the disks at his finger-tips? Probably he +supposed that his hour was come; but I had no evil +designs upon him,—he was not to be drowned in alcohol +at present. Walking homeward I heard the robin's +scream now and again; but the thrasher's was +the last <i>song</i>, as it deserved to be."</p></div> + +<p>Two days later I find the following:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Into the woods by the Old Road. As I approached +them, a little after sundown, a chipper was trilling, +and song sparrows and golden warblers were singing,—as +were the black-throated greens also, and +the Maryland yellow-throats. A wood thrush called +brusquely, but offered no further salute to the god of +day at his departure. Oven-birds were taking to wing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> +on the right and left. Then, as it grew dark, it grew +silent,—except for the hylas,—till suddenly a field +sparrow gave out his sweet strain once. After that +all was quiet for another interval, till a thrasher from +the hillside began to sing. He ceased, and once more +there was stillness. All at once the tanager broke +forth in a strangely excited way, blurting out his +phrase two or three times and subsiding as abruptly +as he had commenced. Some crisis in his love-making, +I imagined. Now the last oven-bird launched +into the air and let fall a little shower of melody, and +a whippoorwill took up his chant afar off. This +should have been the end; but a robin across the +meadow thought otherwise, and set at work as if determined +to make a night of it. Mr. Early-and-late, +the robin's name ought to be. As I left the wood the +whippoorwill followed; coming nearer and nearer, +till finally he overpassed me and sang with all his +might (while I tried in vain to see him) from a tree +or the wall, near the big buttonwood. He too is an +early riser, only he rises before nightfall instead of +before daylight."</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h2> + +<div class="index"> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Blackbird, crow, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>red-winged, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>;</li> + <li>rusty, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li>Bluebird, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</li> + + +<li>Blue-gray gnatcatcher, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> + + +<li>Bobolink, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</li> + +<li>Bunting, bay-winged, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>snow, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>;</li> + <li>towhee, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li>Butcher-bird, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Cat-bird, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li> + +<li>Cedar-bird, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> + +<li>Chat, yellow-breasted, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> + +<li>Chewink, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</li> + +<li>Chickadee, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>.</li> + +<li>Chimney swift, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</li> + +<li>Cowbird, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> + +<li>Creeper, brown, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>black-and-white, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li>Crow, common, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>fish, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li>Cuckoo, black-billed, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Finch, grass, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>purple, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>;</li> + <li>pine, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li>Flicker, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</li> + +<li>Flycatcher, great-crested, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>least, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</li> + <li>phœbe, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>;</li> + <li>wood pewee, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>;</li> + <li>yellow-bellied, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Goldfinch, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</li> + +<li>Grosbeak, cardinal, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>pine, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;</li> + <li>rose-breasted, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Humming-bird, ruby-throated, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Indigo-bird, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Jay, blue, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>Canada, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Kingbird, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li> + +<li>Kingfisher, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li> + +<li>Kinglet, golden-crested, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>ruby-crowned, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Lark, western meadow, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>shore, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li>Linnet, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>red-poll, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Maryland yellow-throat, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li> + +<li>Mocking-bird, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Night-hawk, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> + +<li>Nuthatch, red-bellied, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>white-bellied, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Oriole, Baltimore, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>orchard, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li>Oven-bird, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Pewee, wood 36, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li> + +<li>Phœbe, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Red-poll linnet, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li> + +<li>Redstart, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li> + +<li>Robin, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Sandpiper, spotted, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</li> + +<li>Scarlet tanager, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> + +<li>Shrike, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</li> + +<li>Small-billed water thrush, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li> + +<li><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>Snow-bird, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> + +<li>Snow bunting, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> + +<li>Sparrow, chipping, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>field, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</li> + <li>fox-colored, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> + <li>house (or "English"), <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li> + <li>savanna, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> + <li>song, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>;</li> + <li>swamp, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> + <li>tree, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</li> + <li>white-throated, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li>Swallow, barn, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>white-bellied, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li>Swift, chimney, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Tanager, scarlet, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> + +<li>Thrush, brown, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>gray-cheeked (or Alice's), <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>;</li> + <li>golden-crowned, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>;</li> + <li>hermit, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> + <li>olive-backed (or Swainson's), <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>;</li> + <li>small-billed water, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>;</li> + <li>Wilson's (or veery), <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> + <li>wood, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li>Titmouse, black-capped, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>tufted, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li>Towhee bunting, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Veery, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li> + +<li>Vireo, (or greenlet), blue-headed, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>red-eyed, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>;</li> + <li>solitary, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>;</li> + <li>yellow-throated, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</li> + <li>warbling, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>;</li> + <li>white-eyed, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Warbler, bay-breasted, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>Blackburnian, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>;</li> + <li>black-and-yellow, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li> + <li>black-poll, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>;</li> + <li>black-throated blue, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;</li> + <li>black-throated green, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</li> + <li>blue golden-winged, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li> + <li>blue yellow-backed, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>;</li> + <li>Canada, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>;</li> + <li>chestnut-sided, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;</li> + <li>golden, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li> + <li>golden-crowned wagtail, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</li> + <li>mourning, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li> + <li>Nashville, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>;</li> + <li>pine-creeping, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>;</li> + <li>prairie, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>;</li> + <li>summer yellow-bird, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li> + <li>worm-eating, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</li> + <li>yellow red-poll, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>;</li> + <li>yellow-rumped, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li>Waxwing, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> + +<li>Whippoorwill, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> + +<li>Woodcock, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li> + +<li>Woodpecker, downy, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>golden-winged, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</li> + <li>red-bellied, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</li> + <li>red-headed, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> + <li>yellow-bellied, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li>Wren, great Carolina, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>; + <ul class="ix"> + <li>winter, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +</ul> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 45%; margin-top:4em;" /> + + + +<p><i>Many books belong to sunshine, and should be read out-of-doors</i>—<span class="smcap">Willmott</span>.</p> + +<hr style="width: 33%;" /> + +<p class="center" style="font-size:2em;">OUT-DOOR BOOKS</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Selected from the Publications of</i></p> + +<p class="center" style="font-size:1.5em;">HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY,</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">4 Park St., Boston; 11 East 17th St., New York.</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 10%;" /> + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">Birds and Poets, with other Papers. By <span class="smcap">John Burroughs</span>. +16mo, $1.50.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;"><span class="smcap">Contents</span>: Birds and Poets; April; Touches of Nature; A Bird +Medley; Spring Poems; Our Rural Divinity; Emerson; The Flight +of the Eagle (Walt Whitman); Before Genius; Before Beauty.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;">Mr. Burroughs, as a careful observer of nature, and one of the +most fascinating descriptive writers, is an author whose reputation +will constantly increase; for what he does in not only an addition to +our information, but to the good literature that we put on the shelf +with Thoreau and White of Selborne.—<i>Hartford Courant.</i></p> + + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">Country By-Ways. By <span class="smcap">Sarah Orne Jewett</span>. 18mo, +$1.25.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;">In free and flowing lines Miss Jewett has drawn exquisite pictures +of river and road and woodland, that fascinate by their happiness of +descriptive detail, and by the kinship to humanity which the author +finds in the flowers and trees and fields. Her treatment of the individuality +and life of nature is masterly, and the skill with which she +projects her figures on the canvas of her imagination is effective and +suggestive.—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> + + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">Drift-Weed. Poems. By <span class="smcap">Celia Thaxter</span>. Small +4to, full gilt, $1.50</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;">None of the poets of to-day have made so deep and sympathetic a +study of the shifting aspects of the sea as has Mrs. Thaxter, and none +of them have interpreted its meanings and analogies with half her +grace and subtlety.—<i>Boston Journal</i>.</p> + + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">Fresh Fields. By <span class="smcap">John Burroughs</span>. 16mo. $1.50.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;"><span class="smcap">Contents</span>: Nature in England; English Woods—A Contrast; +In Carlyle's Country; A Hunt for the Nightingale; English and +American Song Birds; Impressions of some English Birds; In +Wordsworth's Country; A Glimpse of English Wildflowers; British +Fertility; A Sunday in Cheyn Row; At Sea.</p> + + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">Locusts and Wild Honey. By <span class="smcap">John Burroughs</span>. +16mo, $1.50.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;"><span class="smcap">Contents</span>: The Pastoral Bees; Sharp Eyes; Is it going to rain? +Speckled Trout; Birds and Birds; A Bed of Boughs; Birds'-Nesting; +The Halcyon in Canada.</p> + + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">My Summer in a Garden. By <span class="smcap">Charles Dudley +Warner</span>. 16mo, $1.00.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;">You cannot open his book without lighting on something fresh +and fragrant.—<i>New York Tribune.</i></p> + + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">Nature. "Little Classics," Vol. XIV. 18mo, $1.00.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;"><span class="smcap">Contents</span>: A Hunting Of the Deer, by Charles Dudley Warner; +Dogs, by P. G. Hamerton; In the Hemlocks, by John Burroughs; +A Winter Walk, by H. D. Thoreau; Birds and Bird Voices, by N. +Hawthorne; The Fens, by C. Kingsley; Ascent of the Matterhorn, +by Edward Whymper; Ascent of Mount Tyndall, by Clarence King; +The Firmament, by John Ruskin.</p> + + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">Nature, together with Love, Friendship, Domestic +Life, Success, Greatness, and Immortality. By <span class="smcap">R. W. Emerson</span>. +32mo, 75 cents; <i>School Edition</i>, 40 cents.</p> + + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">Pepacton. By <span class="smcap">John Burroughs</span>. 16mo, $1.50.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;"><span class="smcap">Contents</span>: Pepacton; A Summer Voyage; Springs; An Idyl of +the Honey-Bee; Nature and the Poets; Notes by the Way; Foot-Paths; +A Bunch of Herbs;. Winter Pictures; A Camp in Maine; A +Spring Relish.</p> + + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">Poems. By <span class="smcap">R. W. Emerson</span>. With Portrait. <i>Riverside +Edition</i>. 12mo, gilt top, $1.75.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;">This volume contains nearly all the pieces included in the former +editions of "Poems" and "May-Day," beside other poems not hitherto +published. The collection includes a very large number of +poems devoted to nature and natural scenery.</p> + + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">Poems. By <span class="smcap">Celia Thaxter</span>. Small 4to, full gilt, +$1.50.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;">They are unique in many respects. Our bleak and rocky New +England sea-coast, all the wonders of atmospherical and sea-change, +have, I think, never before been so musically or tenderly sung about.—<span class="smcap">John G. Whittier</span>.</p> + + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">Poetic Interpretation of Nature. By Principal <span class="smcap">J. C. +Shairp.</span> 16mo, gilt top, $1.25.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;">Full of learning and genuine appreciation of the poetry of Nature.—<i>Portland +Press.</i></p> + + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">Seaside Studies in Natural History. By <span class="smcap">Alexander +Agassiz</span> and <span class="smcap">Elizabeth C. Agassiz</span>. Illustrated, 8vo, $3.00.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;">The scene of these "Studies" is Massachusetts Bay.</p> + + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">Summer. Selections from the journals of <span class="smcap">H. D. Thoreau</span>. +With a Map of Concord. 12mo, gilt top, $1.50.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;">He was the one great observer of external nature whom America +has yet produced, a most subtle portrayer of his own personal +thoughts and life, a tribune of the people, a man who joined the +strongest powers of thought with an absolute love of liberty and a +perfect fearlessness of mind.—<i>The Independent</i> (New York).</p> + + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">Wake-Robin. By John Burroughs. Revised and +enlarged edition, illustrated. 16mo, $1.50.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;"><span class="smcap">Contents</span>: The Return of the Birds; In the Hemlocks; Adirondac; +Birds'-Nests; Spring at the Capital; Birch Browsings; The +Bluebird; The Invitation.</p> + + +<p style="margin-top:2em;">Winter Sunshine. By <span class="smcap">John Burroughs</span>. New Edition, +revised and enlarged, with frontispiece illustration. 16mo, +$1.50.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;"><span class="smcap">Contents</span>: Winter Sunshine; Exhilarations of the Road; The +Snow Walkers; The Fox; A March Chronicle; Autumn Tides; +The Apple; An October Abroad.</p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;">The minuteness of his observation, the keenness Of his perception, +give him a real originality, and his sketches have a delightful oddity, +vivacity, and freshness.—<i>The Nation</i> (New York).</p> + + +<p>⁂ <i>For sale by all Booksellers. Sent by mail, post-paid, on receipt +of price by the Publishers,</i></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO., Boston, Mass.</span></p> + + +<p class="center" style="font-size:2em; margin-top:2em;">The Gypsies.</p> + +<p class="center">By CHARLES G. LELAND.</p> + +<p>Containing accounts of the Russian, Austrian, English, +Welsh, and American Gypsies; together with Papers on +the Gypsies in the East, Gypsy Names and Family Characteristics, +the Origin of the Gypsies, a Gypsy Magic +Spell, Shelta, the Tinker's Talk; beside Gypsy Stories +in Romany, with Translations. In one volume, crown +8vo, red top, $2.00.</p> + +<hr style="width: 10%;" /> + +<p class="center"><i>From the New York Tribune.</i></p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;">Mr. Leland thoroughly understands the love of the gypsy for the +free and picturesque life out-of-doors; he feels it too; his pages glow +with it; his fragments of description borrow from it an irresistible +charm. He brings therefore to the writing of these fascinating chapters +the rare qualifications of an exquisite sympathy with his subject +and a poetic intuition of its inner character. But his enthusiasm is +tempered by his shrewdness, and saved from extravagance by his keen +sense of humor. It is impossible to read such a book without sharing +the author's delight in the queer and not over reputable but +highly romantic company to which it introduces us; and yet it is a +great storehouse of serious and recondite information.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>From The Independent (New York).</i></p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;">A volume beautiful for type and paper, fresh and full with the +strange, mysterious history of the race of which it treats. It abounds +in interesting studies of the language, in which the author is at home, +and of the people. His sketches embrace experiences among gypsies +of different nations,—Russian, Austrian, English, Welsh, and American,—and +are original and immensely entertaining. The volume +contains a number of excellent gypsy songs, well translated.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>From The Churchman (New York).</i></p> + +<p style="font-size:.9em;">The book is, on many accounts, both valuable and fascinating, and +is undoubtedly the fullest and most reliable account of the gypsies +ever written.</p> + +<hr style="width: 10%;" /> + +<p>⁂ <i>For sale by all Booksellers. 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