Song Birds and Water Fowl 



truth, the vociferous crow is a nightingale in 

 comparison ; and even a flock of enraged geese 

 is not to be mentioned in the same day, 

 as regards the gift of diabolical cacophony. 

 Wilson, who says all he can in commenda- 

 tion of every bird, confesses that the noise of 

 these "qua-birds" — also irreverently called 

 "squawks" — is like that of two or three hun- 

 dred Indians choking each other ; and I have 

 heard even more uncomplimentary comparisons, 

 but I spare the reader and the bird. When 

 living in isolated pairs, they are comparatively 

 silent, their slow and easy flight is almost as 

 graceful as that of the gulls, and they certainly 

 constitute a very charming addition to the 

 scenery of lake and stream. 



This community, numbering several hun- 

 dred, was, at the time I visited it, in all stages 

 of domesticity ; some building nests, some 

 laying eggs, some hatching, and in a few 

 cases the young were already well developed. 

 The nests are located near the tops of the trees, 

 forty to sixty feet from the ground, and one 

 tree often contains several nests. Nothing but 

 the want of scaling irons prevented my climb- 

 ing up and getting into touch with these castles 

 in the air. As I passed along under the trees, 

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