108 With Rod and Gun in New England 



fancy. Food, of course, is the chief attraction, and almost everything 

 enters into his bill of fare. On one occasion I saw a jay flying away with 

 a slice of salt pork in his bill, and on his return he stole a piece of toilet 

 soap from my tent. The Canada jay is as amusing and interesting as the 

 blue jay, but like that species it is very destructive to the eggs and young 

 of small birds. I once knew of a pair of these birds destroying the young 

 in four nests of the common snowbird in a single day. I found these 

 nests in an old abandoned lumber road near the Magalloway river in 

 Maine, one morning ; in the afternoon, when I returned by the same path, 

 every nest was rifled, and a pair of the jays were lurking in the trees, 

 shouting defiance at us, while surrounded by the afflicted snowbirds, that 

 were uttering their cries of complaint and sorrow. 



The guides were sleeping soundly, but a few blows of the axe that I 

 gave in cutting some chips from a dry log for the purpose of kindling a 

 fire quickly awakened them. They soon had a rousing fire started, and its 

 warmth was far from unacceptable. 



"T is cold enough for a frost," said Hiram, as he returned from the 

 spring with a pailful of water. 



"Yes, but 'twill be warmer before noon," replied William; "it is 

 always warm after a cold night in the summer, and if we don't have a 

 good bit of rain before midnight I 'm mistaken." 



" Those clouds more wind than rain," said Francois, pointing to the east. 



"That's all right," replied William, "but they are banking up in 

 sou'west and south, too ; we '11 see rain inside of twenty-four hours." 



"Well, maybe," replied Francois; "loon, he holler up in the air; 

 allers storm after that, maybe." As he spoke, the shrill quaver of a loon, 

 high in the air, was heard, and the form of the bird was seen rapidly mov- 

 ing towards the west. 



" He old bach (bachelor) loon," continued the guide ; " no got squaw, 

 great wanderer " ! 



In a short time we were joined by my friends, who with towels in hand 

 were about to take their matutinal dip in the lake. 



" It 's pretty cool this morning," exclaimed the Judge. "I wished I 

 had another blanket at about daybreak." 



" And so did I," said the Doctor, " it was certainly the coolest sum- 

 mer morning I ever knew of; the fire feels good." 



'- Yes," I added, going to the tent for a towel, " and so will a plunge 

 in the lake, and a good ' rub down ' after it ; there 's nothing like it." 



Immediately after breakfast we took our rods, with the intention of fish- 

 ing the pools below, for a few hours. Hiram and William accompanied us, 

 while Franrois remained at the camp for the purpose of securing a good 

 supply of firewood, as a provision against the inclement weather likely to 

 soon arrive, and which might continue several days. 



