_wood pewee_: builds on the limbs of forest trees a most beautiful nest, much like a hummingbird's, only larger. Pewee's soft, pensive call of "pe-e-e-wee" in the deep, quiet, dark-shrouded summer woods is one of the sweetest of bird notes.
_chebec_: a little smaller than a sparrow; builds a beautiful nest in orchard trees and says "chebec, chebec, chebec."
_One had died_: After phoebe brings off her first brood sprinkle a little, tobacco-dust or lice-powder, such as you use in the hen-yard, into the nest to kill the vermin. Otherwise the second and third broods may be eaten alive by lice or mites.
In "Winter" I put a chapter called "The Missing Tooth," showing the dark and bitter side of the life of the wild things; here I have taken that thought as most people think of it (see Burroughs's essay, "A Life of Fear" in "Riverby") and in the light of typical examples tried to show that wild life is not fear, but peace and joy. The kernel of the chapter is found in the words: "The level of wild life, the soul of all nature, is a great serenity." Let the pupils watch and report instances of fear (easy to see) and in the same animals instances of peace and joy.
_gray harrier_: so named because of his habit of flying low and "harrying," that is, hunting, catching small prey on or near the ground. "Harry" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for army.
"_He looketh as it were a grym leoun_": from Chaucer's description of the Cock in the story of the Cock and the Fox.
_terrible pike_: closely related to the pickerel.
_kingfisher_: builds in holes in sand-banks near water. Its peculiar rattle sounds like the small boys' "clapper."
"_The present only toucheth thee!_": Burns's poem "To a Mouse."
"_The fair music that all creatures made_": from Milton's poem "To a Solemn Music," "solemn" meaning "orchestral" music.
_then doubling once more_: This is all figurative language. I am thinking of myself as the fox. The dogs have run themselves to death on my trail, and I am turning back, "doubling," to have a look at them and to rejoice over their defeat.
_pine marten_: The marten is so rare in this neighborhood that I am inclined to think the creature was the large weasel.
_the heavy bar across their foreheads_: a very unusual way of yoking oxen in the United States. The only team I ever saw here so yoked.