148 
THE CANADIAN 
NATURALIST, 
itself. It is handsome^, however^ and is sometimes used for 
furniture. The bark of this tree^ boiled with copperas, makes 
a fluid of an intense black, which is commonly used in the 
village schools as ink, but it never dries properly ; and in 
damp weather the writing becomes glutinous and blots, after 
any length of time : it is also used in domestic dying. This 
tree is called indifferently, soft or white maple. 
C. — Is no species of oak found here ? 
F. — I believe there is none nearer than the banks of 
Lake Memphramagog, about twenty miles distant : I have 
been told that the White Oak f Quercus Alba ) grows there : 
and about Quebec I have seen oaks of several species. 
Throughout the United States, the white oak grows abun- 
dantly : I have seen it in Vermont and in Alabama, in both 
of which, and I believe in all the intermediate States, it forms 
a very prominent tree in the forests. Its general appearance 
is like that of the sugar maple. 
C. • — What tree is that in blossom yonder ? 
F, — It is the wild Service Tree ( Fyrus Arhiitifolia ? ) 
its profuse corymbs of white blossoms give it the appear- 
ance of a large snowball. Its fruit is about the size of a 
cherry, but more resembling a medlar in form : it ripens in 
August. The tree is not common with us. 
C. — I see a beautiful little bird sitting on a bush yonder : 
it is of a dark crimson. Do you see it ? 
F. — Yes ; it is the Purple Finch (Fringilla Purpurea ) , 
It has the power of raising the feathers of the head, as if it 
were crested, which it is continually doing. Wilson says 
it is of a tyrannical and domineering disposition : one beating 
and nearly killing two or three other birds with which it 
was confined, ^'^ driving them into a corner of the cage, stand- 
ing on them, and tearing out their feathers, striking them on 
the head, munching their wings, &c.^ — and even if called 
to, the aggressor would only turn up a malicious eye for a mo- 
