ON THE ISLAND OF MINNEWAWA. 175 



At high water, in the spring, this gully must be over- 

 flowed from end to end, but just now it is quite dry and 

 is strewn with the debris of fallen trees. The ground 

 rises again beyond, but so abruptly rugged and steep 

 that I look at it and fear even by the aid of hands and 

 knees it would be inaccessible to the most adventurous 

 climber. A bold promontory terminates the island on 

 the north, a dangerous, precipitous place, but tempting 

 one with the grand views it commands. 



A tiny tenant had taken up its , abode over the door- 

 way of the house, where a patch of dark-green moss 

 first attracted my attention ; then, with a hasty flutter 

 of wings, a pretty little mother bird popped down from 

 it and sought safety on a stump among the pile of dark 

 rocks in the hollow below the steps of the veranda. 



I am not quite sure if the bird was a wood phcebe 

 or not. The back and wing coverings were a dark slate ; 

 the head black, with some white about the breast ; the 

 legs dark and slender. Her nest was very neat and 

 compact, made entirely of one sort of moss, and coated 

 inside with mud. The eggs in it were, small, round, 

 whitish and speckled. The nearest description to it that 

 I can find in Mr. Mcllwraith's book is that of the Gnat- 

 catcher, but I do not feel quite satisfied that my little 

 lodger over the door was one of that family. 



It was very watchful and timid, yet bold to defend 

 its nest, never ceasing to flit to and fro till it saw me 

 moving away, when it darted back to the nest, and 



