GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS 427 



street. The very catbird's mew in the copse harmonizes 

 with the bare twigs, as it were shaming them into life 

 and verdure, and soon he mounts upon a tree and is a 

 new creature. Toward night the wood thrush ennobles 

 the wood and the world with his strain. 



June 7, 1858. It is evidence enough against crows 

 and hawks and owls, proving their propensity to rob 

 birds' nests of eggs and young, that smaller birds pur- 

 sue them so often. You do not need the testimony of 

 so many farmers' boys when you can see and hear the 

 small birds daily crying " Thief and murder " after these 

 spoilers. What does it signify, the kingbird, blackbird, 

 swallow, etc., etc., pursuing a crow ? They say plainly 

 enough : " I know you of old, you villain ; you want to 

 devour my eggs or young. I have often caught you at 

 it, and I '11 publish you now." And probably the crow 

 pursuing the fish hawk and eagle proves that the latter 

 sometimes devour their young. 



June 16, 1858. No doubt thousands of birds' nests 

 have been destroyed by the flood, — blackbirds', bobo- 

 links', song sparrows', etc. I see a robin's nest high 

 above the water with the young just dead and the old 

 bird in the water, apparently killed by the abundance 

 of rain, and afterward I see a fresh song sparrow's nest 

 which has been flooded and destroyed. 



July 16, 1858. About the mountains were wilder and 

 rarer birds, more or less arctic, like the vegetation. I 

 did not even hear the robin on them, and when I had 

 left them a few miles behind, it was a great change and 

 surprise to hear the lark, the wood pewee, the robin, 

 and the bobolink (for the last had not done singing). 



