AUGUST BIRDS IN CAPE BRETON. 97 



Although I saw no living owls during- my 

 trip, I saw stuffed birds representing the com- 

 mon species, and heard stories of the daring at- 

 tacks of great horned owls upon the dwellers in 

 the poultry yard, — geese, even, included. With 

 snowy owls, the natives to whom I spoke seemed 

 to be wholly unacquainted. 



Crows and blue jays were common in all sec- 

 tions of Cape Breton, but the crow grew less in- 

 teresting after I had met his big cousin the raven, 

 just as the blue jay had sunk to even lower 

 depths in my estimation after my introduction 

 to the moose bird. The blue jay is a downright 

 villain, and his rascality is emphasized by the 

 Canada jay's virtues. The common crow is 

 shrewd, but he lacks dignity. The first glimpse 

 I had of a raven was from the top of Cape Smoky, 

 where, from a crag more than a thousand feet 

 above the waves which dashed against the rocks 

 below, I saw three large black birds come round 

 a headland and sail upon broadly spread wings 

 to the face of a ledge upon which they alighted. 

 The eye often detects differences in outline, 

 movement, and carriage which the mind does 

 not analyze or the tongue describe. The three 

 black birds looked like crows ; in fact, the 

 Ingonish fisherman will deny all knowledge of 

 the American raven, and insist that there is 

 no specific difference between what he calls 



