92 FROM BLOMIDON TO SMOKY. 



and out .iinong their dark ev(M-<^rcen haunts in 

 various parts of the island. Watching ever so 

 eagerly, I failed to see any blackpolls, Wilson 

 blackcaps, bay - breasted, mourning, or yellow 

 redpoll warblers, and it seemed strange to miss 

 entirely the oven-birds, chestnut-sided, pine- 

 creeping, and parula warblers, so readily found 

 near Chocorua. These species may be known 

 to Cape Breton, but they could hardly have es- 

 caped my notice had they been abundant. 



Years ago, when houses and barns were less 

 often or less thoroughly painted than they are 

 now, and when overhanging eaves were common, 

 the eaves swallow was a familiar bird in New 

 England. Now the youthful nest-robber thinks 

 of the mud-nest builder as a rare bird, one for 

 whose eggs he is willing to travel many a mile. 

 In all the Cape Breton country, where barn 

 swallows abound, I saw but one colony of eaves 

 swallows, and that was in a place so dirty and 

 dreary I regret that these charming birds must 

 always recall it to my mind. Scottsville — may 

 the spirit of cleanliness some day come with sapo- 

 lio and Paris green to cleanse it ! — lies at the 

 head waters of Southwest Margaree, within sight 

 of the point where that restless river leaves Loch 

 Ainslie. Opposite the village store stands an 

 unpainted building with ample eaves, and on 

 its northern side, crowded into a space about 



