Transcriber Note: Text emphasis denoted as _Italics_. BIRDS OF SONG AND STORY [Illustration: FOX SPARROW.] BIRDS OF SONG AND STORY BY ELIZABETH AND JOSEPH GRINNELL Authors of "Our Feathered Friends" "And now, wouldst thou, O man, delight the ear With earth's delicious sounds, or charm the eye With beautiful creations, then pass forth And find them midst those many-colored birds That fill the glowing woods. The richest hues Lie in their splendid plumage, and their tones Are sweeter than the music of the lute." [Illustration] CHICAGO A. W. MUMFORD, Publisher 1901 [Illustration] CONTENTS _Frontispiece_ CHAPTER PAGE Poem, The Birds 7 Singers and Their Songs _Illustration_ 9 I Our Comrade the Robin _Illustration_ 17 II The Mocking-Bird _Illustration_ 29 III The Cat-Bird _Illustration_ 36 IV The Hermit-Thrush _Illustration_ 40 V The Grosbeaks _Illustration_ 45 VI The Orioles _Illustration_ 53 VII The Biography of a Canary-Bird _Illustration_ 61 VIII Sparrows and Sparrows _Illustration_ 73 IX The Story of the Summer Yellowbird _Illustration_ 83 X The Bluebird _Illustration_ 94 XI The Tanager People _Illustration_ 101 XII The Meadow-Lark _Illustration_ 107 XIII Skylark (Horned Lark) _Illustration_ 115 XIV Bobolink _Illustration_ 121 XV At Nesting-Time 130 XVI The Romance of Ornithology 144 Index 151 THE BIRDS They are swaying in the marshes, They are swinging in the glen, Where the cat-tails air their brushes In the zephyrs of the fen; In the swamp's deserted tangle, Where the reed-grass whets its scythes; In the dismal, creepy quagmire. Where the snake-gourd twists and writhes. They are singing in arroyos, Where the cactus mails its breast. Where the Spanish bayonet glistens On the steep bank's rocky crest; In the canon, where the cascade Sets its pearls in maiden-hair, Where the hay and holly beckon Valley sun and mountain air. They are nesting in the elbow Of the scrub-oak's knotty arm, In the gray mesh of the sage-brush, In the wheat-fields of the farm; In the banks along the sea beach, In the vine above my door. In the outstretched, clumsy fingers Of the mottled sycamore.