152 BEYOND THE PASTURE BARS 



CHAPTER V 



A HOUSE OP MAXY DOORS 



Page 47. 



Fish Hawk: osprey, a splendid bird, one of the few birds 

 of prey that will build near the homes of men if unmolested. 

 In Rhode Island its nests are sometimes placed upon plat- 

 forms at the tops of tall poles erected for them in door yards. 

 Its cry and flight when it is fishing give a touch of wildness to 

 any scene. 



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"Crow" black-bird: the purple grackle; larger than the 

 red shouldered and "cow" black-birds, but so nearly like the 

 bronzed grackle that only trained observers can tell them 

 apart. From Carolina downward and westward to the Mis- 

 sissippi Valley you have the Florida Grackle, and from Vir- 

 ginia to Texas the boat-tailed grackle. The purple grackles 

 love city parks and tall trees about old country homes where 

 they nest in colonies as the rooks do in England. You should 

 read about them in Lowell's charming essay called "A Garden 

 Acquaintance." 



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The English Sparrow: so named because it was introduced 

 into this country from England. It is a street gamin, and a 

 pest. Outside of my study window as I write there is a fight 

 on between the sparrows and tree-swallows for possession of 

 a bird house on the barn ; and unless I take a hand in the fight 

 the beautiful, useful swallows will be driven away. 



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City of Babel: look up an account of this famous city in 

 the Bible, the 10th and llth chapters of Genesis. 



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Cord-wood: trees cut into four- foot lensrths to be cut later 



