OF NEW ENGLAND. 385 



striking cooing, one of the saddest sounds in nature, though 

 sweet, and wholly inexpressive of the true feelings of the 

 doves. It usually consists of four notes, which suggest the 

 sobs and moans of a most disconsolate lover, or of a person in 

 the deepest distress. The briefness of this last biography will, 

 it is hoped, be excused. The author approaches the end of his 

 long though pleasurable labors with a certain feeling of eager- 

 ness and relief, though glad to have paid even a slight tribute 

 to nature, science, and the inauguration of a second centurj' in 

 the life of his country, for, through an unforeseen coincidence, 

 as he writes these last words, the distant boom of cannon on 

 Boston Common announces the hundredth anniversary of the 

 Declaration of Independence. 

 26 



