



Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Anne Storer, some
images courtesy of The Internet Archive and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net






                       BIRDS.
         ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY
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         VOL. II.    SEPTEMBER      NO. 3
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BIRD SONG.

    How songs are made
    Is a mystery,
    Which studied for years
    Still baffles me.
            --R. H. STODDARD.


"Some birds are poets and sing all summer," says Thoreau. "They are the
true singers. Any man can write verses in the love season. We are most
interested in those birds that sing for the love of music, and not of
their mates; who meditate their strains and amuse themselves with
singing; the birds whose strains are of deeper sentiment."

Thoreau does not mention by name any of the poet-birds to which he
alludes, but we think our selections for the present month include some
of them. The most beautiful specimen of all, which is as rich in color
and "sun-sparkle" as the most polished gem to which he owes his name,
the Ruby-throated Humming Bird, cannot sing at all, uttering only a
shrill mouse-like squeak. The humming sound made by his wings is far
more agreeable than his voice, for "when the mild gold stars flower out"
it announces his presence. Then

    "A dim shape quivers about
    Some sweet rich heart of a rose."

He hovers over all the flowers that possess the peculiar sweetness that
he loves--the blossoms of the honeysuckle, the red, the white, and the
yellow roses, and the morning glory. The red clover is as sweet to him
as to the honey bee, and a pair of them may often be seen hovering over
the blossoms for a moment