40 DOWNS — -ON LAND BIRDS OF NOVA SCOTIA. 



tree, these gaudy pliimaged little songsters sing their melodious 

 song, while the sunbeams dance in the shadowy glades, or flash 

 upon the varnished leaves which rustle to the balmy western 

 breeze. Up and down, round and round, chasing each other, dart- 

 ing from thicket to thicket, these merry little migrants fr*om sun- 

 nier climes pursue in wanton playfulness their mates, or catch their 

 insect prey; while at intervals they mount the topmost branches of 

 birch or maple, and Mdth distended throat and excited look pour 

 forth their dulcet strains. Hard must be the heart of that man 

 who is not moved at the scene around him, or as my worthy master 

 in ornithology, Mr. Waterton, truly says in his ever memorable 

 " ' Wanderings in the South American forests ' — heedless and bank- 

 rupt in all curiosity must he be, who cannot pause to look upon 

 the towering mora tree, or listen to the distant bell note of the 

 snow-white campanero." 



But I fear my prefatory remarks are becoming too long and 

 tedious. I will therefore pass on to my notes upon sixty-one dif- 

 ferent species of land birds, which will occupy my first paper upoii 

 the " Birds of Nova Scotia ; " and should the present list prove 

 interesting to the members of our Institute, I shall have great 

 pleasure in following it up with others, and complete, if life and 

 health be spared me, a perfect catalogue of all the birds that have 

 been observed in the Province to the present time. 



The Golden Eagle — [Aquilu ckrysaetos). — A specimen of 

 this rare bird Avas taken in a fox trap uninjured, at Newport, in 

 the winter of 1856. I first became acquainted with this bird in a 

 garret, and he was so pugnacious, attacking Dr. Buskirk and my- 

 self with such fury, that I had to seize a broomstick to keep him 

 off". Mr. Scarfe kept him for a year or more in a back yard oppo- 

 site Mr. John Esson's, but at last he made his escape. 



Bald-headed Eagle — (Haliaetus leucocephalus). — This bird is 

 pretty common on the eastern coast of this Province. At Tangier 

 their nests occur on the topmost branches of blasted pines and other 

 trees. The nests are of large size and formed of sticks, and are 

 always placed in an almost inaccessible position. This powerful 

 bird when wounded throws itself uj^on its back on the approach of 

 the sportsman, and with glaring eyes dashes out its huge talona 

 with the utmost fury, rendering its capture by no means easy. 



