BIRDS. 135 



Here then are one hundred and fourteen spe- 

 cies. The list could be enlarged by taking in 

 the lakes and some other features of the dis- 

 trict, which is twenty-seven miles from the sea- 

 coast, where, of course, numerous additions could 

 be made of beach and ocean birds. Among so 

 many as I have named, one comes as a matter of 

 course to have his favorites, but all are interest- 

 ing. Some of them are delightful songsters, 

 others are almost dumb, and others, again, are 

 harsh screamers. The swamp-robin, or hermit- 

 thrush, is the most charming of the musical fra- 

 ternity. The jays are the noisiest ; the cedar- 

 birds the most silent. The most unsocial are 

 the raven, the olive-sided flycatcher and his 

 cousin, the wood pewee. The hardest fighters 

 are kingbirds. The most ferocious is the 

 goshawk. The most intelligent is the crow, and 

 the least intelligent, night-hawks and spruce 

 partridges. The most beautiful nests are made 

 by humming-birds and wood pewees, and the 

 worst by the cuckoos. The cow-pen bird makes 

 no nest, but lays her eggs in the nest of other 

 birds for them to hatch. The raven is most 

 distinguished as a bird of bad omens. The only 

 good thing I ever read about them is the ac- 

 count of them taking food to the prophet Elijah. 

 They are so eager and greedy to eat all they can 



