— 503 — 



1 think you will agree with me in saying that few 

 countries can furnish a group of brighter ones than 

 those now exposed to view, and composed of Canadian 

 birds only : — Hermit Thrush, Purpe Finch, Canadian 

 G-old Finch, Wood Duck, Golden - winged Wood- 

 pecker, or Eain Fowl ; Blue Jay ; Field Officer ; Mary- 

 land Yellow-Throat ; Wax- Wing ; Indigo Bird ; Euby- 

 Throated Humming Bird ; Scarlet Tauager ; Baltimore 

 Oriole ; Meadow Lark ; Pine GrosBeak ; Cardinal 

 Grosbeak ; Eose-breasted Grosbeak and Towhe Bunting. 



As for song, we may safely assert, with the same 

 Alexander Wilson, that the Fauna of America can 

 compete with that of Europe. True, we have not the 

 Skylark, nor the Blackbird; and our Eobin, although 

 similar to him in note and habits, is still his inferior 

 in song ; but we have the Wood Thrush, with its 

 double-tongued flute notes, the Hermit Thrush, the 

 Brown Thrush, the gingling, roystering Bobolink, the 

 Canadian Goldfinch, whose warble reminds you of the 

 Canary. The far-famed European Nightingale has cer- 

 tainly met with a worthy rival in the American Mock- 

 ing-Bird, whose extraordinary musical powers have 

 been so graphically delineated by John James Audubon. 



To those inclined to underrate the song of american 

 Birds, compared to that of European species I would 

 recommend the perusal of an able paper, by John Bur- 

 rougs — to be found p. 121, in one of his fascinating 

 bird-books : Fresh Fields. 



Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I must crave 

 your forgiveness for trespassing so long on your atten- 

 tion. The study of Bird-life, has ever been a favorite 

 one with me since my early youth ; I think it calcu- 

 lated to infuse sunshine and elevating ideas, in the 

 minds of both old and young. One word more and I 

 have done. 



We have to admit that the study of natural history 

 in our country has not been prosecuted with the same 

 vigor as have other departments of science. The out- 



