126 BY-WAYVS AND BIRD-NOTES. 
early in the spring. It was also the nesting- 
place of a pair of cardinal-grosbeaks, whose 
well-built home I discovered fitted neatly be. 
tween three strong reeds. Soon in the morn. 
ing the male would alight on the highest point 
above the nest and whistle bravely, his plum 
age shining like dull red fire 
There is no craft like a dug-out, that genu- 
ine Indian pirogue, for perfect gentleness and 
sweetness of motion. You siton a seat hewn 
in the stern and ply a short, rather broad 
paddle. The long, slender boat is all before 
you, the prow well up, like a pug nose. The 
round, smooth bottom slips along almost on top 
of the water, as if running over ice. In sucha 
pirogue we would paddle around the island 
and troll far bass, often catching wonderfully 
game fellows of over four pounds in weight. 
This silent gliding of the dug-out makes it par 
excellence the angler’s craft. There is no rat- 
tling of rowlock and thole-pin, no oar-dip. 
Your paddle goes in silently, it comes out with 
not even the slightest ripple-break. The 
bass and bream are utterly-unaware of your 
movements. 
Speaking of bream, as the Southerners call 
the blue-perch, it 1s a royal fish. You find 
it in the eddies and swirls of those Georgian 
brooks and rivers, a voracious feeder, taking 
the worm with all the vigor of a trout. You 
use a rather heavy reed for a rod, rigged with 
asmall reel. The larve of wasps and angle- 
worms are the most killing baits. A bream 
weighing ten ounces will give you a lively run, 
testing your skill equal to a speckled trout of a 
like size. It comes out of the water shining 
with royal purple and yellowish waves of color. 
