270 IN A LOG CAMP 



attracted by the camp, perhaps, but they 

 were unusually meek for robins, and did not 

 pretend to own the country. 



Besides the robins were few birds that we 

 are accustomed to see about houses. No 

 orioles, catbirds, or cedar -birds ; no king- 

 birds or phoabes; no goldfinches or song- 

 sparrows. Chebec was there. He was quite 

 " pretty behaved " (in the language of the 

 locality) when he first came, but a few days 

 later, when he began to feel at home and 

 found no one to disturb him, he grew 

 " bumptious " and put on airs of owning 

 the whole place, scolding me, attacking the 

 redstart, and squabbling with his kin. A 

 purple finch came about occasionally with 

 his sweet song; a vireo serenaded us daily 

 with tireless " ee-ay ! kee-ter ! kee-ter ! kee- 

 ter ! " an oven-bird made the woods ring 

 from morning till night ; the long-necked, 

 ungainly pileated woodpecker sometimes an- 

 nounced himself with resounding whacks, 

 and the laugh of the flicker was heard through 

 the woods. 



The joy of twilight was the thrushes ! 

 Three of the family were at home in these 



