t, ringing voice, and followed it by a
whispered "mew," almost exactly in the tone of pussy herself.

He was not far from my window, across a small yard, and as plainly seen
through my glass as though not six feet away. I saw his beak and throat,
and am absolutely certain that he delivered every note. The absorbed
singer stood there motionless a long time, and carried on this queer
conversation with himself. It sounded precisely like two birds, one of
whom was mocking or ridiculing the other in a low tone.

Sometimes the undertone, as said above, was a squawk; again it resembled
a squeal; now it was petulant, as though the performer scoffed at his
own singing; and then it was a perfect copy of the song itself, given in
an indescribably sneering manner. I could think of nothing but the way
in which one child will sometimes mock the words of another.

It was very droll, as well as exceedingly interesting, and I hope some
day to study further this unfamiliar side of the thrush nature.

After my unsuccessful attempt to disarm the fears and suspicions of the
meadow-nesting thrushes, we left the little family to its much loved
solitude, and in a day or two the whole nestful departed.

XIII.

A JUNE ROUND OF CALLS.

"I should like to meet you two in that rig on Fifth Avenue," calmly said
our hostess one morning in June, as we started out on our regular round
of calls.

What a suggestion! We stared at each other with a new standard of
criticism in our eyes. We were not exactly in ordinary visiting costume;
but then, neither were we making ordinary visits, for the calling-list
of June differs in every way from that of January. The neighbors at
whose doors we appeared would be quite as well (or as ill) pleased to
see us in our dull green woods dress, with fresh leaves on our hats to
convey the impression that we were mere perambulating shrubs, with
opera-glasses instead of cards, and camp-stools in place of a carriage,
as though we had been in regulation array. Away we went, the big dog
prancing ahead with the camp-stool of his mistress.

Our first call was upon a small dame very high up in the world, thirty
feet at least. The mention of Fifth Avenue suggests that possibly our
manners were not above criticism. We introduced ourselves to Madam
Wood-Pewee not by ringing and sending up cards, but by pausing before
her door, seating ourselves on our stools, and leveling our glasses at
her house. We felt, indeed, tha