They are amongst the most useful of all birds, feeding 

 usively on insects. 



Xev<>r did I find the woods more alive with thrushes 

 and warblers, and the air filled with a multitude of 

 smurs. many of them new to me. But to write in de- 

 tail about these dwellers in the tree tops would fill 

 a book. If you wish some real fun in the wilderness, 

 bring your soul attuned to its sights and sounds and, 

 equipped with a field glass or opera glass and Chap- 

 man's book on the Warblers of North America, stalk 

 the flitting sights and sounds amongst the tops and 

 boughs of spruces, balsams and pines. 



We cannot even mention by name all the feathered 

 songsters that make a stay in the wilderness so fascin- 

 ating. Before we ,pass to the flowers and trees, we 

 must, however, briefly mention a few more of the 

 l:>vovr ones. 



One of the rarest and wildest birds in the forest 

 is the big black logcock or pileated woodpecker. He 

 is as laruv as a crow, but passes through the air with 

 the dipping flight peculiar to his clan, often uttering 

 his loud wild scream. With his strong bill, he chisels 

 through three or four inches of sound wood to secure 

 the fat grubs that are living within the trunk or 

 stump. His nest is in hollow trees, but I have never 

 found one. 



Xot ,ar from water, if you are lucky or learn to 

 spy out the secrets of the wilderness, you may discover 

 one of the eyries of the bald eagle and the osprey, or 

 i'ish hawk. These birds rebuke the old saying that, 

 ''There are no birds in last year's nests," for eagles 

 and ospreys return to the same nest year after year. 

 1 25 



