IV. 



WOOD NOTES AND NEST HUNTING. 



Passing along an old dam, now unappropriated 

 and neglected, where, on either side of it, trees 

 have since its building grown to maturity, now 

 watching for awhile the adventurous bream which 

 approaches the shallow water for gerris and water- 

 beetles, and whose motions appear to be dull and 

 heavy by the surfeit of this continual feast, my 

 eye is arrested by another insect-catcher of the air, 

 the wood pewee. With what unerring precision it 

 darts upon some aspiring beetle, and returns to its 

 observatory on the opposite shore ! 



This bird is not shy when engaged in its legiti- 

 mate pursuits, and will allow a very near approach. 

 His head is continually moving from side to side ; 

 he occasionally stops, however, to preen his breast 

 feathers, which seem to be always ruffled, or with 

 uplifted claw to give his crown a series of quick, 

 spiteful digs, and with droll performance peer un- 



97 



