10 



BEAKS AND BEAVERS, 



beaulifully plumaged wood grouse, strutting before 

 me as if conscious of the attractiveness of its feather- 

 ing ; while often the Canadian grouse, no less beau- 

 tiful in garb, on rapid wing, flushes before my in- 

 trusion, and wheels its flight to less disturbed 

 vicinities. 



The red and grey squirrels sported and gambolled 

 in every direction, and chased one another from tree 

 to tree, every now and again performing acrobatic 

 feats that almost equalled those of the long-armed 

 apes of the Malay peninsula. That they get frequent 

 falls in springing from tree to tree there is no doubt, 

 but when they do so, the merry little creatures appear 

 to take it all as a matter of course, as without 

 hesitation they continue their gambols, as if a descent 

 of fifty or sixty feet were an every-day occurrence, 

 and rather to be enjoyed than otherwise. 



Nor are these woods tenantless of warblers, 

 whose notes are as sweet and plaintive as those of the 

 mavis or robin. 



First comes the blue bird, dear to every American's 

 heart, for the melody of his voice does not surpass 

 the beauty of his form and azure plumage. About 

 the size of the martin, and not unlike it in mode of 

 flight, this little darling appears to spend its life in 

 warbling carols of the sweetest cadence. The oriole 

 and American robin seem to have little else to do 

 than has the blue bird, while the spotted coat of the 

 former, and the effulgent breast of the latter, em- 

 phatically contradict the accepted idea that melody 

 is never to be found in the notes of a brilliantly 

 plumaged bird. Overhead other voices are to be 

 heard, possibly less melodious than those previously 

 mentioned, yet none the less attractive to the lover of 

 nature. 



Should the traveller halt and lay his load aside, 

 and gaze into the topmost branches of some of the 

 mammoth trees of the forest, he will discover a 



POi 



