62 
MUSCICAPA NUNCIOLA. 
mining^ of the water below, aud the projection of t''’^ 
large rocks above : — 
There flown smooth ^list’ning rocks the rivulet pours, 
Till ill a pool its silent waters sleep, 
A dark brovvM cliflF, o’ertojip’d with fern and flowers, 
Hangs, grimly louring, oVr the glassy deep ; 
Above through every chink the woodbines creep, 
And sraooth-bark'd beeches spread their arms around, 
Whose roots cling l:^visted roun<l the rocky steep ; 
A more sequester’d scene is no where toiuul, ^ 
For contemplation deep, and silent thought profound. 
In this cave I knew the pewit to build for sever** 
years. The place was solitary, and lie was seldoi” 
disturbed. In the month of April, one fatal SaturdaVi 
a party of boys from the city, armed with Jtuns, dealiu? 
indiscriminate destruction amonir the feathered tribf* 
around them, directed their murderous course this wa;f’ 
and, within my liearing’, destroyed both parents of thi> 
old and peaceful settlement. For two successive year*» 
and I believe to this day, there has been no pewee see’’ 
about this place. This circumstance almost convince* 
me that birds, in many instances, return to the sai*^ 
spots to breed ; and who knows, but, like the sava^ 
nations of Indians, they may usurp a kind of exclnsi'f 
right of tenure, to particular districts, where the! 
themselves have been reared ? 
Tlie notes of the pewee, like those of the bluehirdi 
’>ot for any melody they contain, but froi* 
the Ideas ot spring and returning verdure, with all tb* 
sweets of this lovely season, which are asisociated witll 
Ins simple blit lively ditty. Towards the middle 
June, be becomes nearly .silent ; and, late in the fal*> 
gives us a few farewell and melancholy repetition*' 
that recall past imagery, and make the decayed ain* 
withered face of nature appear still more melanchoh’. 
The pewit is si.y inches and a half in leimth, and nio^ 
and a lialf broad ; the upper parts are of a dark diiskl 
olive; the plumage of the head, like those of the tn'O 
preceding, is loose, subcrested, and of a deep browni**' 
black; wings and tail, deep dusky; the former edge**’ 
