APRIL. 95 



its post in quest of flies, which it caught with all the grace 

 and in perfect imitation of a typical fly-catcher. 



The truth is, there is scarcely a habit but is open to 

 marked influence, and the change may be suddenly brought 

 about. Man often abruptly changes the whole face of 

 nature, and the birds must likewise change or f orsak'e their 

 former haunts, and this many species are very loath to do. 

 Where English sparrows have forced their way into the 

 country, the familiar birds of our door-yards and gardens 

 have been forced to quit, and now frequent localities 

 where formerly they were seldom found and never nested. 



In spite of the unpromising outlook, we continued our 

 search for possible warblers. Every house we passed had 

 its grove of tall white pines before it, and into these, with 

 leveled field-glass, we persistently stared, hoping, not to 

 the consternation of timid women-folk. Bird-hunting in 

 this fashion is not yet quite a safe pastime, for the world 

 is not so far educated as to realize that any one would 

 walk a mile in hopes of merely seeing a rare warbler, and 

 such curiosity has brought more than one rambler to 

 temporary grief. I am so far fortunate as to have escaped 

 molestation, to date ; although I once chased a wounded 

 bird into a stranger's garden when cherries were ripe. 

 Less fortunate was my good uncle, when State Geologist 

 of New York, for he was detained as a lunatic for two 

 whole days in a country village because his saddle-bags 

 were filled with "broken stones," as the fossils he had 

 collected were pronounced to be. 



But with all our care we saw no warblers, and stopped 

 at the first tavern we reached, and refreshed. There is 

 an excellent well of sweet water in the back yard. Here, 

 too, we crossed the river and commenced our homeward 

 journey. Still no birds ; and probably never before had I 

 taken a walk of the same length and seen so little. Dis- 



