SOME CANADIAN BIRDS 



As one rests by the mossy trunk in perfect 

 stillness, the true wood-dwellers, scared for a 

 moment by a hitherto unheard-of presence, begin 

 to resume their normal activities. There is a 

 dead stump some few yards away, the relic of a 

 mighty tree, broad and hollow at the base, with 

 a jagged and broken summit about four feet from 

 the ground. 



We catch a glimpse of a little chipmunk peering 

 at us from the end of a mossy mound, now, an- 

 other of the squirrel-like creatures, with its grey 

 and white streaked coat, leaps like a flash across 

 the green barrier, and in a moment the two tiny 

 heads are together, gazing at the monstrous thing 

 that has invaded their sanctuary. 



They are ready to dive at the smallest move- 

 ment, but they soon come back. 



Still they are too far away for their scrutiny to 

 be successful, and at last one sidles through the 

 wood-tangle, imtil it is lost in the hollow stump : 

 a moment later its inquisitive head appears through 

 the splinters at the top : now it is joined by its 

 companion, and the two small faces close to- 

 gether, surveying the crouching stranger now near 

 at hand, form a little woodland picture not soon 

 forgotten. 



In a morning's ramble (bearing the caution of 

 our host in mind on the danger of wandering far, 

 although, as a matter of fact we got lost in the 

 end) we find many novel sights and sounds to 

 attract the attention. 



Identification of birds by a stranger in the land 

 is often a difficult matter. With some birds their 

 mere appearance proclaims their names. The 

 flash of gorgeous red and black is the scarlet 

 tanager, as certainly as the gleam of living blue 

 against the green leaves is the indigo bird. 

 Others again leave more to the imagination. 



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