

ha\ gone ' 'I'liat is not BO 668^ U) I -''"it. tli:it th-\ -till BZJ t inundimin 



ished numbers I ;ini ;il|i positively, for so la t< March (1890)1 *aw 



nmny thousands pa r T n mt < from u - -t t , . .1 i Th>-l!, -.MM 



daylight to nine <>r ten o'clock every fine morniii > k. I IM 



this se^me movement* every spring for yean My opinion i- that th- bird 



gone hack to tin- new settlements, \vln-n- they can still find K 



pastures in which the old stumps are standing- our modern barbed win- which 



which has taken t he place of t he old stake and rider fence having deprived th- in 



of a fa vorite nesting place. The up-to date iVuit grower, too, no longer allows 

 bis apple trees to go antrimmed and full of holes, but cuts out the oldtrees and 



i-ej>laces them with young ones. This hasremo\ed many of the old Q ites, 



and the hirds have spread out over the large area of new country now being 

 brought under cultivation. They introduced themselves to the Province of M 

 toba about 1.SS4, and have since become quite common then-, having evident ly 

 followed the settlers, as they were quite unknown in that country l-l'on- it \\a- 

 brought under general cultivation. The utility of this bird as an insect destroyer 

 is beyond question. It eats neither grain nor fruit; occasionally in stormy 

 weather, in early spring when insect food is hard to obtain, it will eat the 

 berries of the sumach, but that is the only vegetable substance I have ever known 

 it to take. The beauty of its plumage, its sprightly spring song, and even the 

 rather melancholy farewell notes in which it bade us good-bye, as it drifted 

 southward in the last days of October, made it a great favorite everywhere, and 

 every lover of nature would be glad to see it return and take its old place about 

 the farm once more. 



Cat bird. Neither this nor the succeeding species belong to the Thrush 

 family, but there is a sufficient similarity in their food habits to warrant our con- 

 sidering them here. They are closely allied to the famous Mocking Bird of the 

 south, and their musical powers are not very much inferior to that splendid 

 songster. They do not, however, so frequently exercise their power of mimicry. 

 The peculiar mewing note uttered by the Cat bird has caused a certain amount 

 of prejudice to exist against it, and has made it subject to persecution at the 

 hands of most boys ; but apart from this unpleasant note, the Cat bird is one of 

 the most accomplished musicians we have, and it is more to be admired because 

 it does not retire into solitude to pour out its joyous songs, but rather seeks the 

 society of mankind, and in the morning and evening will sing its clear notes from 

 the top of some tree in close proximity to the dwelling house. Its food in the 

 early part of the season consists almost entirely of caterpillars and beetles, which 

 it obtains generally from the branches and leaves of trees, though sometimes 

 after rain it seeks for cut worms and other grubs from the ground. Later in the 

 year it feeds largely upon elderberries and other small wild fruits, and does oc* 

 sionally levy some slight toll from the garden ; but for all the cultivated fruit it 

 takes it has amply repaid the gardener by its efforts in the destruction of the 

 insect tribe. 



Brown Thrush or Thrasher. All that I have said of the Cat Bird applies to 

 this species, but it is not quite so familiar and confiding in its habits. It displays 

 a decided preference for thick shrubbery at some little distance from the house 

 Here it remains in seclusion for the greater part of the day, hut in the early mm n- 

 ing and evening the male bird mounts to the top of some tall tree near its haunt, 

 and for an hour or so will sing his beautiful song, which is much louder, though 

 less varied, than that of the Cat bird. 



Wrens. This is a most interesting and useful family of very small birds. Four 

 species of them are found in this Province in the summer. Two of them, the 



