The Morning herald., 1878-07-13
,THE HUMMISC-nIIsD OF CALI

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9ops vlpter morning, when the Msrcsd
Riyer was blue and green with unmelted
snow, observed onsof my ouzels perched
/ on snag out IN the midst Of swift. rush
ing rapid. He sang cheerily, as il, every,
thing was~just to his mind, and while II
stood on the bank admiring him, he sud-
denly plunged into the sluggy current,
leaving bis song broken abruptly of. AZ
ter feedinga minute or two at the bottom,
and and when one would suppose he must in
eyitably be swept far down the stream, he
emerged just where be went down, ,alight-
ed on tile same snag, and showered the
water-beads from his feathers, and at once
continued his unfinished song splicing
it together as il it had suffered no inter-
ruption. . anuob ,gobu9jla ul u srest- a &
a The ouzsl alone of all birds dares to en-
I ter white atonent. And though strictly
terrestrial in structure, no other is SO in
separately related to winter-not even the
duck, or bold ocean albatross, or stormy
petrol. Ducks 60 ashore when they have
done feeding in undisturbed places, and
frequently make long overland flights from
lake to lake or from field 10 field. The
same is true of most other aquatic birds.
But our ouzel, born on the very brink of
stream, seldom leaves itcfor q single mo-
ment, For, Notwithstanding 'ahe is often
on the wing, he never flies overland, but
whirls with rapid, quail-lile beat above the
stream, tracing all its winding modulations
with great minuteness. 2z~ 4,-gs,f
Even when the stream is quite small, say.
from five. to ten feet wide, be will not try
to shorten his fight by crossing q bend,
however abrupt itmay be; and even when
disturbed by meeting some one On the
bank, he prefers to dy over ones head to
lodging out over the ground. When,
therefore, his flight over q crooked stream
is viewed endwise, it appears most strik-
-ingly wayered-an interruption Of every ]
curve inscribed with'lightning- like rapidity
on the air. "~
The vertical curves, and angles of the
most precipitous Alpine torrents he traces
with the same rigid fidelity. Swooping
down the inclines of, cascades, dropping
sheer over dizzy falls amid the spray, and
ascending with the some fearlessness and
ease, seldom seeking to lessen the Steep
ness of the activity by beginning to as
cend before reaching the base of the fall.
No matter how high it may be, he holds
straight on as if about to dash headlong
into the throng of booming rockets, then
darts abruptly upwards, and after alighting
at the top Of the precipice to rest mo-
ment, proceeds to feed and to sing. His
fight is solid and impetuous, without any
intermission of wing g-beats-one homo
genous buzz, like that of q laden bee On
its way home. nuy itas III 7o. /
! And while thus buzzing freely from fall
to fall, he is frequently heard giving utter
ance to long out-drawn train of unmodu-
lated notes, in no way connected with
his song, but corresponding closely with
his fight, both in sustained vigor and
homogenity of substance ~m ,. %. @E
'Eb An 49, 9. .1AAA &,bEs I
sss3 A&G ET3SINGaNt IT TAGS.g F8A
Singing may bs defined to be the de-
livery or the sounding of musical notes