good than harm, destroying multitudes of field-mice and 

 other small rodents of the farm, though individuals often 

 merit and receive condemnation and punishment at the 

 hands of the irate poultry-raiser. 



In addition to their economic importance the birds 

 appeal most forcibly to our aesthetic sense. The wooing 

 and mating, and building of the nest, the eggs — dumb 

 miracles of life, the rearing of the brood, the instinct 

 that draws them irresistibly to dare the perils of the un- 

 known in extended journeys at the appointed time, — 

 these have appealed to the sympathies of mankind since 

 the remotest ages. In their cries find expression all 

 the gladsomeness of day- and the weirdness of night, the 

 freedom of the plain and the mystery of the forest, 

 the hopefulness of dawn, the serenity and trust of 

 evening, the yearning of spring and the melancholy of 

 autumn. In their silence is death. 



Holbcell's Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Colymbiis hol- 

 bcellii.' Occasional on river ; migrant. 



Horned Grebe, '^Crested Grebe," Colymbus auritus. 

 Occasional on river ; migrant. 



Pied-billed Grebe, " Dipper," Podilymbns podiceps. 

 Common on river in fall. 



Loon, Urinator iviber. Frequently seen on neighbor- 

 ing ponds in fall and spring. 



Dovekie, '' Little Auk," Alle alle. A number were 

 seen after a severe storm a score of years ago. 



American Herring Gull, Lanis argcntatus sinitJi- 



^The terminology- and sequence of species is that adopted by the American Orni- 

 thologists' Union. 



