The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-04-29
JOURNAL AND COURIER MONDAY PRI a 1907

beer a great trial to the Puritans-he's s so merry.
 His seven different songs are written out on the staff by Wilson Flagg. Mrs. Wright translates his song, Maids maids-maids, Hang on your tea kettle |ettle-ettle,"
 The vesper sparrow has two white tail feathers, and sings, Mrs. Tryon says, fin dry upland pastures"
 The white throated sparrow saves his best song for the mountains and their lovers.
 The juncos who winter in our gardens in Norwich go north with the white threats. With a welcome to the chippy with his rufous crown, let us speed the passing guest, the fox sparrow, and leave the finch family, after mention ing one who haunts our happy woods
 The chewink of towhee rings two long bellI-like notes from high to low, and described by one listener "Jore-re Blur-re willy-nilly wiIly-nilly willy nilly."
 II the blue bird carries our banner in his colors the red dulled in service at the front, we have a white family who belong to us, too. The American warb- lers are found in no other country.
 A sound of scratcnlng among dry leaves on the ground attracted our att tention. Up hopped an oven bird, and walked prosily along a limb. But the poetry in him must out, and tho his was only the familiar "quch, quicha, quicha" it's expression carried the sing CT up to the tree tops. Our sixth warbler we knew by it's note "the chee chee chee cher-wee" to be the summer yellow bird.
 We moved camp to Mediterranean lane, on the way, like Canterbury Pll- girms, discoursing. And first, of the nuthatch and his acrobatlc habits. His name seems to be a variation of nut hscker, as he uses his bill to hack open the beech nuts which he crows into bark.
 Noticing a Least hycatcher We opened our Chapman and read when music was distributed 1 believe most of our hycatchers had back seats. In cresceu- do passages he literary rises to the occasion, and on trembling wings sings as absurd "chebc rooral coral, chebic, tooral ooral' varying the performance by murderous sallies after passing in- seets."
 We watched valiant klngbird dart from fence. capture bee, and re- turn to the same perch. just as we knew he would.
 "The phoebe came May day in my garden said one observer. His "Phoebe!l sung so prosily is unlike the chick-a-decs love note which drawls from high to lower "phoeber The phoebo's Is a bit more practical I think. It Is a little interval from low to high, and quicker,
 Passing some birds perched on tele- graph wires, we noticed their white breasts, and added 'treeswallows" to our list. This recalled our visit to the bank swallows nest at Gales Ferry. The cliff, or cave swallow, told by it's reddish upper tail coverts is as Nor wieh Birds says found on a Norwich fam. The purple martin (from Mars. they're good fighters) nests on East Bread street. The barn swallow is easily distinguished by his deeply fork ed tail.
 Bobolink meadow at lstl But of course the little chlck-a-dee must know all about it. He escorts us along the lane with a dozen impertlnences for wtich we would forgive no other bird.
 Night hawks are so often seen among the mountains their white-wIng- bars showing as they sail, as they sail 9 with their "shirk shirk boom!"
 Whippoorwills are distinguished from the nIghtingales by the children by their "whlskers.'
 If ever a bird was observed by writ CTS 1t is the bobolink. One says; Who eyer would find his nest must have the patience of an Indian, the eyes of a bird and the cunning of fox' His transformation from bobolink to reed bird, the vain war waged against him by southern rice growers, whose crops he twice a year attacks are mat ters of interest to many. In the fall from August 25 to septem- Der 25 they say that in the Carolinas "every man, woman and child turns out armed with shot guns and bangs away from daybreak to night fall" Returning in the spring the rice bird tackles the young rice plants, pulling them out of the ground, They winter in Brazil going from Florida to Jamai- ca, where they are called butter birds' 6n account of their pumpness.
 After eating the seeds of the guinea grass they start on their long flight across tho Caribbean sea- 400 miles without an islet, shoal or reef to guide them. and without a halt.
 The most characteristic of the songs given in prose is a Kick your slipper kick your slipper--temperance! temper ance! Take a drink, Go to grass all of you"