THIC CAXADIA.N l-X T( » M ( »1,( K'xl ST. 267 



in the shade of pines and anion^ IjusIk-s of hucl-:k-l)c-n-_\-. I heard at inu-rvals what 

 absent-mindedly 1 set down as the (hstanl hoot of an owl, soft and plaintive; sud- 

 denly, I sat up and listened attentively.- -an owl? ;it noon? on a hri-lu June day? 

 What a fool 1 was! \\v noting- the flireetion of the sound 1 was soon able to 

 train niv glasses on to a small i.;rou]) of trees not \-ery far away and to my delight 

 discovered the singer on a high hraneh of white pine; from eolour and sha])e, 

 especially the head and neck, it appeared to he a pigeon; taken in conjunction 

 with its call the evidence pointed conclusiwly to the Mourning Dove; the call 

 has great charm, being sofll_\- plaintive, suiting the lonely swamps and pine woods 

 where it loves to dwell. One of the prettiest sights 1 have ever seen was a 

 faniilv of four of these l)irds perched side bv side on a ]>\nv branch o\'erlooking a 

 stretch of hazel and scrub oak in which I had been sttul_\ing a colony of ground 

 robins (the Chewink or Towhee). 



Not verv long afterwards, on the edge of this Xewtonville Swamp, as 1 

 sat nuinching some bread and cheese on a hummock of moss, 1 heard almost 

 over mv head the ineffably sweet call of tlu' "White-throat" Sparrow (the I'ea- 

 bodv or Canada bird), and with my glasses was able to detect the songster in a 

 tamarac almost at my side. When these birds hrst come back in the spring they 

 linger for davs about the gardens and orchards, and li]<e the Warblers on their 

 migration fiight arevery sociable; I once saw three species ot sparrows all to- 

 gether in the top of a spruce beside m\- window at the School; two ol the l)irds 

 were the \\'hite-thro;it and the White-crowned v^|)arrow. The bird sings all the 

 .season and there is hardb- an\ secluded swamp where it may not be heard; in the 

 Algonquin Park their call is on every side from June until August. Yet again 

 in this swamp while Ijotanizing with an old college triend from LiverixxM we 

 were attacked b\- a largx- pair ot hawks, and linalK' surprised two \-otmg ones 

 just able to Hv. in the centre of a great trodden s])ace that can best be described 

 as a shambles; three rabbit skulls, two pair ot \ellow hen's legs, a crow, and 

 many gruesome tufts of tur and teathers being scattered about. ( )ne (la\' in this 

 swam}) while taking some boys of the school k'ield Club to see the Pitcher Plants, 

 Sundews, ( )rchids and Deaths, we sur])rised a liittern on its nest; 1 do not think 

 we should have seen the bird at all biU it betrayed its presence by an angry hiss 

 like a snake's, and i)resentl\- we saw the long sharp dagger of its beak with a 

 glittering eve behind it (the jewel in the haft) thrust up through a clum]) of 

 l)lack J{uck!eberr\- { ijuyhissacui rcsiiiosa } . Among the ])oys at the school was 

 a little Swiss from .Mexico who once brought me trom his home a bunch of 

 Some tropical orchids gathered trom a tree; 1 had these set U]) in a greenhouse in 

 sphagnum moss and two \ear^ later thev thrust out a gorgeous dis])lav of blos- 

 soms. This boy was tairl\- fascinated that da\- in tlie swam]) 1)\- his first sight 

 of the insectivorous ])Iants of the sphagntmi. When tlie botanical collections 

 were handed in that July. I found among m\- .Mexican pu])irs si)ecimens a 

 beatltifullv ])ressed ]iair of Pitcber-jjlant leaves with the long-stalked noclding 

 flower between, and midernc-alb, the legend — " lug-i)lant !" 



This h'ield Club had ceinain highl\- ])rized ])rivileges; the l)o\s xwn.' gi\-en 

 extended botmds and an occasional half holi(Ia\ for an oiuing in ]uuv. .As 

 birds' nesting was talioo an<l tfower hunting tame to man\- of the i-obuster 



