BIRDS, FLO WEBS, AND PEOPLE 123 



species had come in since Mr. Brewster's 

 day (eleven years before), with some change 

 of local conditions, the cutting down of a 

 piece of forest, perhaps, and the formation 

 of a bushy swamp in its place. A villager 

 closely observant of such things, and well 

 acquainted with the bird, assured me from 

 his own recollection of the matter (and he 

 remembered Mr. Brewster's visit well) that 

 such was pretty certainly the case. 



Another bird seen almost daily, though in 

 limited numbers, was the red-winged black- 

 bird, which Mr. Brewster noticed only in a 

 few places in the lower valleys. It seemed 

 well within the range of probability that the 

 same changes which had brought in one 

 lover of sedgy tussocks and button-bushes 

 should have attracted also another. I made 

 no search for nests, but the fact that the 

 birds were seen constantly from May 7 to 

 May 27 may be taken as reasonably con- 

 clusive evidence that they were on their 

 breeding-grounds. 



Two or more pairs of phcebes had settled 

 in the neighborhood, and two or more pairs 

 of parula warblers. The former were not 

 found by Mr. Brewster above a level of 3000 



