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Show the lUrly turd. After a long winter innny of tn nre too Impatient for spring to wait for tho swelling of the buds, the opening ot tho early flowers, and the aprlnglng of tho grata. Several weeks lie between tho end ot winter and tho truly genial spring da) a, and during thla Interval wo look for eomclhlng to herald the tattled spring Beaton. And tho thing which gle tit that for which we aro unconsciously looking, more than all other ilgut, It the arrival of the birds. Almost any warm day In early March we may hear n thin, cloar "laeata" In a high piping key. and on looking up, tea from ono to live black blrdt, about tho tlio of orioles, flying In a ttrnnge undulating undu-lating manner aoma up und tome-down, tome-down, with the wlngt held cloto to their eldea during the "drop" In tholr flight They are cow-blrda, Tho Hock may awlrl Into tho top of a tree nnd alt close together If thla happena within eyeshot, stop and watch them for a moment. Ono or two ot tha males aro utmost certtln to utter tho ridiculous long of tho species, which, like that of their relatives, the gracklei. it accom- pllthed by the most grotesque ot action!. ac-tion!. The bird spreads Ita wlnga to their utmost, iprcadi and elovatot the tall, ttretchee Itt neck upward and forward, and then, quivering and tottering, tot-tering, nearly fallt forward off the perch. Tho mellow ilute notes of the meadow-lark float to ua from the mid-olo mid-olo of come large, open field, and nre among the most beautiful bit ot bird music we ever hear. They nre not to be represented by note, and can only be most Inadequately detcrlbed. There It great variation In the sequence ot notes, but all are beautifully clear aad ringing, and have a decided tlngo ot what would be sadness If It wero not to iweet The bird file In a very characteristic char-acteristic manner, never raiting the wing abuvo the piano of tho back, and when lecn below the horizon line always thont tho white feathers In tha tall. Hit aaflron breast and black breaitmirk toUlom thaw on the llvtnir blrdt, and the mottled brown back It a wonderful aafeguard agjlnit bit many overhead cnemlet Along tha bankt ot tome laka or stream, sitting Idly on a telegraph pole or wire, rising and tattling, tat-tling, elevating and depressing hit long, parted topknot, a patriarchal old klngfliher may be teen silently awaiting await-ing the gleam of it ahluer In the water below. Or perbapa, you may flrat aee blm flying like a big woodpecker, screaming bit chattering cry, high tn the air, or tenting perilously close to the water tinder the fringing hemlock branrbea that overhang the atream. Hla large else, slate-blue back, loud note nnd characterlitlc flight mako him a hard bird to mistake. Uul Agnstlt I'turlea In Cornell Nature leaflet |