[Illustration:  Maryland Yellow-Throat. 1 Male. 2.  Female.]

“Does he wish to show you his deep narrow nest, made of grape-vine bark, old leaves, and grass?  Not he; being crammed full of good spirits he simply wants you to share them and have a race.  Sometimes he will stop a moment quite near and call—­’I-spy-it, I-spy-it,’ and then fly off and challenge you to a new chase.  Or sometimes, if two or three call at once, you will stray away from your path without knowing it.

“They are very gentle, lovable little birds too, and sing all through the summer when many of the better singers have grown silent.”

“The Yellow-throat must be what I’ve called the Black-faced Yellowbird,” said Rap.  “Please, Doctor, does he sometimes fly right up in the air to sing a little bit and then go back into the bushes as if he had changed his mind?”

“Yes, Rap, that is one of the Yellow-throat’s habits in late summer, but one that very few people notice.”

The Maryland Yellow-throat

Length about five and a half inches.

Upper parts olive-green, in the male with a black mask reaching along each side of the head, and behind this an ashy-white border; but the female wears no mask.

Under parts bright yellow, growing white on belly.

A Summer Citizen of the United States from Georgia to Canada.

When he lives west of the Mississippi River he is called the Western
Yellow-throat.

A Tree Trapper and occasionally a Sky Sweeper; a beautiful and familiar bird of the brush and tangles.

THE YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT

“The Chat, besides being a very handsome bird, is a ventriloquist and a great joker.”

“Please, Uncle Roy, what is a ventroquist?” asked Dodo.

“I should have remembered not to use such a long word,” laughed the Doctor.  “A ven-tril-o-quist is a person who can not only imitate sounds, but makes it seem as if they came from his stomach, or even in a different direction from where he is himself.  The Mockingbird can imitate many sounds, but all these come directly from the bird; while the Chat can perch on a twig above your head and give a whistle that seems to come from a bush across the road.

“This is what enables him to play tricks on birds, House People, and various other animals.  He will whistle until he has set a dog tearing through the bushes to find his supposed master.  Another time he will give such a soft strange series of notes that a bird-lover will immediately begin to search through a tangle of briers, after what he imagines to be a strange bird.  Then he indulges in a fit of merriment at his own jokes—­’chatter-chatter-chat-chat-chat-chat-chat’ he says, calling his own name as he slips away to the security of a catbrier or barberry bush.  Large and vigorous and strong of beak as he is, this practical joker is wise, and does not often show his conspicuous yellow breast in open places.