8 WITH THE U. S. NATURALISTS 



fellow, locally wrongly called a 'Svild canary." 

 Wrongly called, for a Canary is a seed-eating bird 

 of the Finch family, with a strong, short conical 

 beak, and comes from the Canary Islands; while 

 all the Wood Warblers are distinctly American, 

 are found only in the western hemisphere, have 

 sharp and slender bills and live on insects. The 

 boy's attention was so fully centered on the Yellow 

 Warbler that he started when Bull spoke again, 

 referring to the stranger. 



''Game warden, ain't he?" he said, putting his 

 remark in question form, though he had no reason 

 to suppose that the boy would know the fact. 



''Acts like one," hazarded Shan in reply, and in 

 drawling sentences, he told of his hiding in the 

 bushes and his subsequent discovery. "So," 

 concluded the lad, "he's likely enough to be a game 

 warden, knowing the woods like that." 



Bull grunted in reply. A long pause ensued. 

 Conversation in the thinly settled districts of 

 North Carolina cannot be considered a fine art. 



"It's an unhealthy trade!" was Bull's next re- 

 mark, and there was a threat behind the words. 



Shan glanced sharply at his uncle. Although 

 resentful of his ignominious discovery by the 

 warden, he bore no malice, and even the infrequent 



