92 THE TRAGEDIES OF THE NESTS. 



more unfruitful eggs in them. The cedar-bird is the 

 most silent of our birds, having but a single fine note, 

 so far as I have observed, but its manners are very 

 expressive at times. No bird known to me is ca- 

 pable of expressing so much silent alarm while on 

 the nest as this bird. As you ascend the tree and 

 draw near it, it depresses its plumage and crest, 

 stretches up its neck, and becomes the very picture 

 of fear. Other birds, under like circumstances, hardly 

 change their expression at all till they launch into the 

 air, when by their voice they express anger rather 

 than alarm. 



I have referred to the red squirrel as a destroyer 

 of the eggs and young of birds. I think the mischief 

 it does in this respect can hardly be overestimated. 

 Nearly all birds look upon it as their enemy, and at- 

 tack and annoy it when it appears near their breed- 

 ing haunts. Thus, I have seen the pewee, the cuckoo, 

 the robin, and the wood-thrush pursuing it with angry 

 voice and gestures. A friend of mine saw a pair of 

 robins attack one in the top of a tall tree so vigor- 

 ously that they caused it to lose its hold, when it fell 

 to the ground, and was so stunned by the blow as to 

 allow him to pick it up. If you wish the birds to 

 breed and thrive in your orchard and groves, kill 

 every red squirrel that infests the place ; kill every 

 weasel also. The weasel is a subtle and arch enemy 

 of the birds. - It climbs trees and explores them with 

 great ease and nimbleness. I have seen it do so on 

 several occasions. One day my attention was ar- 



