the mocking-bird, of the third; and the blue-bird, the pewee, and the
purple martin, of the fourth class. It may be added, that some birds
are nearly periodical in their habits of singing, preferring the
morning and evening, and occasional periods in other parts of the day,
while others sing almost indifferently at all hours. The greater
number of species, however, are more tuneful in the early morning than
at any other hour.

June, in this part of the world, is the most vocal month of the
year. Many of our principal songsters do not arrive until near the
middle of May; and all, whether they come early or late, continue in
song throughout the month of June. The bobolink, which is one of the
first to become silent, continues vocal until the second week in
July. So nearly simultaneous is the discontinuance of the songs of
this species, that it might seem as if their silence were
preconcerted, and that by a vote they had, on a certain day, adjourned
over to another year. If an unusually genial day occurs about the
seventh of July, we may hear multitudes of them singing merrily on
that occasion. Should this time be followed by two or three
successive days of chilly and rainy weather, their tunefulness is so
generally brought to a close during this period, that we may not hear
another musical note from a single individual after the seventh. The
songs of birds are discontinued as soon as their amorous dalliances
and the care of their offspring have ceased. Hence those birds that
raise but one brood of young during the season, like the bobolink, are
the first to become silent.

No one of the New England birds is an autumnal warbler; though the
song-sparrow often greets the fine mornings in October with his lays,
and the shore-lark, after spending the summer in Labrador and about