26 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



alighted again, almost at our feet, with her wings spread, a 

 truly beautiful sight. Baily began to prepare liis camera, but 

 she flew again, alighting on the top rail of a fence, a few yards 

 away, sitting lengthwise on the rail. She made several other 

 short flights and finally disappeared, without allowing us to 

 secure her picture. 



When we turned from the mother bird, we approached the 

 spot from which she had risen, but the little birds were so 

 inconspicuous, that they were found with difficulty. You have 

 seen their pictures, and I will not describe them. These Night- 

 hawks were quite the event of the excursion. 



We did not, as I recollect, see or hear many birds in the pine 

 woods. On the ground we found an egg of the oven bird, which 

 had somehow been displaced from the nest. We took a circular 

 course, entering the wood at the north, and emerging at the 

 south-east, and on our way passed through several open glades; 

 the ground covered with ston}- shale, interspersed with a few 

 thin weeds, the whole exactly similar in character to such places 

 on Pocono Mountain, or in the pine barrens of New Jersey. The 

 pine tree that is characteristic of this region is the Pitch Pine 

 (Pinus rigida), and it is abundant. 



Upon leaving the woods, we came upon a sort of pasture field 

 or waste land, dotted with clumps of white thorn, alder, and 

 black-berry bushes. A brook divided the field from the woods. 

 Just the place for birds, and they were here in abundance. 

 One of the most beautiful and touching sights was a Wood 

 Thrush, within ten feet of us, sitting on her nest, and gazing at 

 us with unblinking eyes. We passed by with reverent steps. 

 While I was holding back some branches to enable Baily to 

 photograph a nest of young Catbirds, the cries of the parents 

 brought around us a great variety of birds — so many that I felt 

 tempted to drop the branches and devote all my attention to 

 them. There were the Cardinal, the Towhee, the Brown 

 Thrasher, the White-eyed Vireo, the Kentucky Warbler, the 

 Blue-winged Warbler, the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. We were 

 led to the nest of the White-eye by seeing the old bird leave the 

 bush with a piece of excrement. As long as we stayed at the 

 place, we saw birds, and I have not doubt that an indefinite 

 stay would have added indefinitely to the list. 



