the hoots, until they got together on a limb of a tree; they seemed so 
     
     glad to meet that their hoots came so fast they were reduced to who- 
     
     oo-oo-oo. Sometimes screeches would come from the woods that 
     
     sounded like a person in distress calling for help. The marsh hen 
     
     made a doleful sound. One we called saw-whetter, made a sound like 
     
     filing a saw; and it had about the same effect on one’s nerves. The 
     
     bluejay added his college yell to this confusion of noises. The 
     
     whippoorwill was rarely seen on the Island. It pouts its name 
     
     in a crying tone, as though it were being whipped. This strange 
     
     medley of sounds coming from the woods made us afraid to go far 
     
     from the house at night. The woods held many terrors. They seemed 
     
     to be the haunt of strange and ravenous creatures, that were ever 
     
     seeking to devour children. When I tell you further on about getting 
     
     lost in it you will better understand or imagine my feelings. 
     
    
   
   
    
     There was a great variety of hawks. It was wonderful how they 
     
     could navigate the air; they would go to a great height, and sail 
     
     around as if on exhibition. We had to watch our hens closely to pro- 
     
     tect them from hawks. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The goshawk was the terror among both wild and domestic 
     
     birds. He is swift and strong and alert. He would dash into the barn- 
     
     yard and carry off a hen so quickly that we could not do anything to 
     
     stop him. Sometimes we tethered an old hen in the barnyard, and 
     
     watched for a hawk to come; once in a long while we would get one 
     
     but it was too tedious and uncertain sport for us. There were a few 
     
     eagles but they seldom came near. We could outwit the crows; two 
     
     or three of us would go and scare the crows away from the corn or 
     
     beans, they were destroying. Then we would hide and after a time 
     
     one or two of us would go home. Soon as they saw us leaving they 
     
     would come again, and the one remaining would shoot them. They 
     
     were cunning but they did not count or calculate our numbers. 
     
    
   
   
    
     There were many kinds of swallows. The chimney swifts built 
     
     their nests in old chimneys. Some built their nests under the eaves of ‘ 
     
     buildings. They constructed these of mud and fibres; they were very 
     
     industrious. Some dug holes in the old wells. They kept up a continu- 
     
     ous mellow chatter while working. When the young ones came 
     
     there was a big stir getting food for them. Wood-peckers made 
     
    
   
   
    
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