168 
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST 
US ; or if he is, he must be generally mistaken for the crow, 
the chief difference being his superior size. 
C. — I noticed a little stranger in the depth of the woods, 
which I have not seen before. Its head was deep blacky 
wings and back dark, and all the under parts white ; but it 
was very shy^ so that I could not examine it particularly. 
F Probably it was the Black-poll Warbler f Sylvia 
Striata J, which occasionally visits this province, and even 
Newfoundland^ where it is more common than with us. 
The nests of the Snow-bird and Song-sparrow f Fringilla Ni- 
valis and F. Melodia ) may now be found in great numbers ; 
they both build on the. ground^ in a small hole^ or in a tuft 
of grass : the former frequently chooses a hole in the side of 
a bank under a raspberry bush. They are easily discovered 
by the bird's flying away on the approach of man^ and they 
are not very artfully concealed. — — Have you in your 
rambles heard a bird whose cry resembles the mewing of 
a cat ? 
C. — I have not noticed any such. What is it like ? 
F, — -It is a species of thrush ; its colour is slate blue^ 
deep on the upper parts^ and light below. Its note exactly 
resembles the plaintive mew of a cat that has been hurt ; it 
is very familiar^ and when mewing in this odd tone^ has 
various jerks and motions that are full as odd. It is called 
the Cat-bird ( Turdus Felivox), and is very well known^, but 
is not at all a favourite^ though a very harmless bird. 
C. — What a delicious odour fills the air from the maple 
grove. 
F, — Yes ; the sugar-^maple is in full blossom : its flowers 
are small and greenish white : their fragrance would scarcely 
be perceivable if smelt singly, but a grove of young maples, 
such as these^ each one covered with blossoms, gives out a 
volume of perfume that indeed^ as you say, fills the air. — 
The leaf-buds of the brown and the white ash are expanding. 
