138 ABUNDANCE OF OYSTERS. 



two inches in length, is broad across the head and shoul- 

 ders, has an irregular dusky cross on its back, and varies 

 in colour at will, from grey to green. This variation in 

 colour makes it difficult to be seen upon trees. During 

 damp weather it is peculiarly clamorous, especially in 

 the fall of the year. It is here considered, along with 

 the fall of the leaf, as one of the sensible harbingers of 

 winter. As evening approached, these animals began 

 to chirp in the trees opposite my window ; and from 

 that time till I fell asleep in bed, the air was filled with 

 a low whistling or whispering sound, somewhat resem- 

 bling a sharp rustling of the wind among the leaves. 

 The tree-toad is rarely heard in the morning, when 

 a perfect stillness prevails. It is difficult to convey an 

 exact idea of the sound this animal emits, as it is some- 

 thing of a ventriloquist, and often deceives the most 

 attentive observers, who are looking for and endea- 

 vouring to catch it. The southern or squirrel tree-toad 

 is brown in colour, and has a length of only an inch 

 and a quarter. I have not heard its note, if it has any. 



Opposite to Newhaven, on the other side of the 

 bay, stands Fairhaven, a town with three conspicuous 

 churches, which is supported entirely by its trade in 

 oysters. All along this coast, from the Gulf of St Law- 

 rence to the Delaware and the Chesapeake, oysters 

 abound, either naturally or in consequence of artificial 

 importation, and are an article of extensive consumption 

 and large traffic. They are a constant dish at table, 

 sometimes as often as twice a-day. They are shelled, 

 and, with the liquor contained in the shells, are sold at 

 about a dollar a gallon. In winter, these shelled oysters, 

 frozen in their own juice, are sent by the railways in ton 

 loads, and are greatly prized in the interior. 



It would appear that the oyster abounded in most of 

 the New England bays when the country was first 

 colonised ; but the supply for the markets of all the large 



