d conversation
punctuated by those pretty wing gestures, about the two bird-boxes.

These scenes of love and rivalry had lasted nearly all the forenoon, and
matters between the birds apparently remained as they were before--the
members of each pair quite satisfied with each other. One pair occupied
one of the bird-boxes in the vineyard and reared two broods there during
the season, but the other pair drifted away and took up their abode
somewhere else.

THE BLUEBIRD

A wistful note from out the sky,
"Pure, pure, pure," in plaintive tone,
As if the wand'rer were alone,
And hardly knew to sing or cry.

But now a flash of eager wing,
Flitting, twinkling by the wall,
And pleadings sweet and am'rous call,--
Ah, now I know his heart doth sing!

O bluebird, welcome back again,
Thy azure coat and ruddy vest
Are hues that April loveth best,--
Warm skies above the furrowed plain.

The farm boy hears thy tender voice,
And visions come of crystal days,
With sugar-camps in maple ways,
And scenes that make his heart rejoice.

The lucid smoke drifts on the breeze,
The steaming pans are mantling white,
And thy blue wing's a joyous sight,
Among the brown and leafless trees.

Now loosened currents glance and run,
And buckets shine on sturdy boles,
The forest folk peep from their holes,
And work is play from sun to sun.

The downy beats his sounding limb,
The nuthatch pipes his nasal call,
And Robin perched on tree-top tall
Heavenward lifts his evening hymn.

Now go and bring thy homesick bride,
Persuade her here is just the place
To build a home and found a race
In Downy's cell, my lodge beside.

THE ROBIN

Not long after the bluebird comes the robin. In large numbers they scour
the fields and groves. You hear their piping in the meadow, in the
pasture, on the hillside. Walk in the woods, and the dry leaves rustle
with the whir of their wings, the air is vocal with their cheery call.
In excess of joy and vivacity, they run, leap, scream, chase each other
through the air, diving and sweeping among the trees with perilous
rapidity.

In that free, fascinating, half-work-and-half-play
pursuit,--sugar-making,--a pursuit which still lingers in many parts of
New York, as in New England,--the robin is one's constant companion.
When the day is sunny an