Then come the songs. If there is some one in the party who can lead in singing, she can use a familiar air with a rousing chorus as a frame upon which to hang impromptu verses, made up of personalities and local hits. This is always fun and you are surprised how quickly doggerel rhymes suggest themselves when your turn comes to furnish a verse to the song.
The leader begins something like this, using, perhaps, the air and refrain of an old chantey or college song.
_Leader_ "I spotted a beaver, But he wasn't very nye."
_Second Soloist_ "His fur was all ragged And he had but one eye."
_Chorus_ "Don't you rock so hard. Oh! You rock and I rock, and Don't you rock so hard! Everybody rocks when I rock, and Don't you rock so hard."
_Third Soloist_ "You may laugh at the beaver, But he's always up to time."
_Fourth Soloist_ "Oh, do drop the beaver, And start a new rhyme."
A song like this may go on indefinitely or until the rhyming powers of the party are exhausted.
In a camp where the members are all familiar with the calls of the various wild birds, a bird-call match makes a charming game when the party is gathered around the camp-fire. The leader begins by whistling or singing the call of a wild bird; if it can be put into words so much the better. For instance, we will take the first few notes of the wood-thrush, which F. Schuyler Mathews has put into notes and words as follows:
[Illustration: Music: Come to me, I am here.
Or the yellow-throated vireo, which he gives in this way:
[Illustration: Music: See me! I'm here, Where are you?
If the leader is correct the next player gives the call of another bird. When a player gives a bird call which is known to be incorrect--that is, absolutely wrong--and some one else can supply the proper rendering, the first player is dropped from the game just as a person is dropped out of a spelling-match when she misspells a word. If there is no one who can give the call correctly, she retains her place. This is excellent training in woodcraft as well as a fascinating game. Your ears will be quickened to hear and to identify the bird calls by playing it; and storing bird notes in your memory for use in the next bird-call match will become a habit.