Evening star., 1901-05-18

ycnder, uttering all the while a high. wire
note that is scarcely more noticeable than
the continual subdued plash of the water
that came up to me from a pebbly shallow
in the creek below. Every now and then
they introduced themselves in an absent
minded. peTfunctory manner, letting the
observer know in brisk but half melan-
choly tone by what name to call them.
Contrary to my expectations / did not
hear from any of them the love song which
is so frequent at this season; a slow, clear
high-pitched phrase of two or three notes,
variOusly rendered. but always extremely
incongruous with themselves; readily
might one expect a largo from darting
swallow as these lazy, deliberate tones
from this active and nervous little filter
among the trees.
SiIver-TOned Chewinks.
While the chckadees were passing
through the upper chambers of the beech a
chewink entered on the ground floor. AS
usual the first intimation he gave me of his
presence was a scratching among the
leaves, much as though some stray hen
were pursuing her daily occupation far from
the barnyard that forms the accustomed
scene of her activities. But on the 1st of
May, when the sun is filling the earth with
a gentle warmth, 1t is only the most stolid
of birds that can long keep silent, and soon
the newcomer was tinkling his silver bell
antiphonally to a friend, mate or rival, Off
in the brush on my other hand Very clear
and decided sounded that dignified dialogue,
until Carolina wren in the underbruSh
few feet away suddenly threw out lively,
reSOunding, delightfully."- timbered song;
then | perceived that the cheWinks S bell was
cracked, and that he was after all, greatly
wanting in frmneSS and decision. But there
is much vocal difference in different Caro-
lima wrens, and this one that paled the
CLEAN of the chewinks candle was one of
the most gifted. Such a voice his was
worthy of a pilgrimage across county. 1t
rang out in the half-hung woods of the late
spring in a manner that suggested the CLINT
of steel.
1t is largely this peculiarly attractive
quality of tone that has given the Carolina
wren a very high rank as a singer, in my
estimation. Always refreshing to the ears,
when it echoes through the empty halls OF
the winter woods, as 1t occasionally docs,
it is an invgorating tonic. At that season
it loses none of its energy, and has for
background the faint half-frozen peeps of
juncos and tree and song sparrows, whose
notes are quickly blown away on the blus-
Wren Phrases.
The Carolina wren is one of the few birds
Of my acquaintance whose utterances ever
approximate definite syllables. In one of it's
half-hundred different phrases that are
among my notations it distinctly enun-
ciates the word "cheerily;" in another a
strong imag agination can hear the name
'Berlioz' pronounced in correct French,
and another can be easily distorted into
sick abed,' which is anonymously rem
dered in most sprighty and cheerful ac-
cents.
The cardinal sometimes utters a low note,
rapidly repeated. very similar to one of the
notes of the juncO, that sounds like toto
to. etc. But the is persuasive and resem-
bles that made by the Italian, with the tip
of his tongue between his teeth instead of
behind them. and the o is midway between
long o and long IL Ordinarily there is no
definite cOnsonantal sound in his singing.
SO it is with the great majority of birds.
There is as much use of words syllables
in ordinary whistling as there was in most