AUGUST BIRDS IN CAPE BRETON. 91 



dead tree in true jay fashion, and then phmg^ing, 

 head foremost, into the shadows of the grove be- 

 neath. As I left the larches behind me, the 

 same strange, harsh cry echoed from its depths, 

 and I accepted it as the moose bird's prophecy 

 of impending rain. It is an odd fact that these 

 birds die if they become chilled after being wet 

 in a heavy rain, and on this occasion they were un- 

 doubtedly seeking dense foliage to protect them 

 from the storm which began a few hours later. 



Of the Cape Breton warblers, the black-and- 

 yellow were among the most numerous, and by 

 all means the most brilliant in plumage. When- 

 ever I called the birds together, the magnolias 

 were sure to appear, their gleaming yellow 

 waistcoats showing afar through the trees, and 

 contrasting with their dark upper plumage and 

 the cool gray of their caps. One male redstart 

 seemed the most richly marked bird of his spe- 

 cies that I had ever met with. The black ex- 

 tended much lower on the breast than usual, and 

 the vermilion which lay next it burned like a hot 

 coal. Summer yellow-birds were common in the 

 meadow borders, where Maryland yellow-throats 

 also abounded ; a single black - throated blue 

 warbler appeared to me near Baddeck ; one 

 anxious mother Blackburnian scolded me in the 

 dark forest near the falls of Indian Brook ; and 

 a few Canadian fly-catching warblers flashed in 



