THE YELLOW -BREASTED CHAT. 



187 



if he were saying, "There comes a brigand! Now our nests wih all be 

 robbed!" You draw nearer, and presently you are greeted with a loud "Cazv!" 

 and you look around for a crow. If you persist in going into his home, you 

 will receive a "tongue-lashing" that will make your ears tingle, and it does 

 not require a far stretch of the imagination to make you feel that he is 

 quoting profane history at you. He has an extended vocabulary, especially 

 of epithets. LTnless you are acquainted with his ways, you will think a half 

 dozen birds are berating you instead of onlv one. 



Tahen near Waverly. 



THE CHAT'S NEST. 



Photo by Ri-'i'. II'. P. Hcnningcr. 



It may be a good while before you see the author of all this jargon, 

 and you are almost ready to quote Wordsworth's famous lines to a Cuckoo, — 



"Shall I call thee bird. 

 Or but a wandering Voice?" 



But presently he creeps slyly to the top of a bush, and you catch the gleam 

 of his rich yellow breast, and note his black mask, while he continues his vitu- 

 perations, his throat bulging out like that of a croaking frog. The first time 



