344 AN AMERICAN HUNTER 



one of the most noticeable and most attractive sounds. 

 On the other hand, the cooing of the mourning doves 

 is most noticeable in the still, hot summer days. In 

 the thick tangles chats creep and flutter and jerk, and 

 chuckle and whoop as they sing; I have heard them sing 

 by night. The cedar birds offer the most absolute con- 

 trast to the chats, in voice, manner, and habits. They 

 never hide, they are never fussy or noisy; they always 

 behave as if they were so well-bred that it is impossible 

 to resent the inroads the soft, quiet, pretty creatures make 

 among the cherries. One flicker became possessed of a 

 mania to dig its hole in one corner of the house, just 

 under the roof. It hammered lustily at boards and 

 shingles, and returned whenever driven away; until at 

 last we were reluctantly forced to decree its death. Oven- 

 birds are very plentiful, and it seems to me that their 

 flight song is more frequently given after dusk than in 

 daylight. It is sometimes given when the whippoor- 

 wills are calling. In late June evenings, especially by 

 moonlight, but occasionally even when the night is dark, 

 we hear this song from the foot of the hill where the 

 woods begin. There seems to be one particular corner 

 where year after year one or more oven-birds dwell 

 which possess an especial fondness for this night-sing- 

 ing in the air. It is a pity the little eared owl is called 

 screech-owl. Its tremulous, quavering cry is not a 

 screech at all, and has an attraction of its own. These 

 little owls come up to the house after dark, and are fond 

 of sitting on the elk antlers over the gable. When the 

 moon is up, by choosing one's position, the little owl 



