172 



Bird-Land Echoes. 



that he had noticed during the past twenty years, 

 but what a complete and pitiful change has taken 

 place in this respect in about a century or a little 

 more ! Then these gulls were here throughout the 

 year, an every-day feature of the river, instead 

 of, as now, an occasional one. Pelicans and true 

 cranes disappeared long ago, and in a few years, 

 perhaps, a gull will be a curiosity. In this particular 

 region, where Nature has been lavish of her gifts, 

 and has, as it were, called the birds, man has been 



Tern. 



more than usually destructive ; consequently these 

 birds are scarcer than about most river-valleys. The 

 same may be said of terns as of gulls. They are 

 even less often seen, although it must be remem- 

 bered that there are far fewer of them along the 

 sea-coast, where they more properly belong ; but for 

 their absence we alone are to blame. 



When a typical January thaw occurs, and the melted 

 and melting ice and snow come rushing down from 

 the mountains, our meadows are often converted into 

 pretty inland lakes. The summer pastures are some- 



