Song Birds and Water Fowl 
truth, the vociferous crow is a nightingale in 
comparison ; and even a flock of enraged geese 
is not to be mentioned in the same day, 
as regards the gift of diabolical cacophony. 
Wilson, who says all he can in commenda- 
tion of every bird, confesses that the noise of 
these ‘‘qua-birds’’ —also irreverently called 
‘«squawks ’’—is like that of two or three hun- 
dred Indians choking each other ; and I have 
heard even more uncomplimentary comparisons, 
but I spare the reader and the bird. When 
living in isolated pairs, they are comparatively 
silent, their slow and easy flight is almost as 
graceful as that of the gulls, and they certainly 
constitute a very charming addition to the 
scenery of lake and stream. 
This community, numbering several hun- 
dred, was, at the time I visited it, in all stages 
of domesticity ; some building nests, some 
laying eggs, some hatching, and in a few 
cases the young were already well developed. 
The nests are located near the tops of the trees, 
forty to sixty feet from the ground, and one 
tree often contains several nests. Nothing but 
the want of scaling irons prevented my climb- 
ing up and getting into touch with these castles 
in the air. As I passed along under the trees, 
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