or the winter to the West Indies and South America.

A very valuable neighbor, and an officer of high rank in the guild of
Tree Trappers.

His brother--the Black-billed Cuckoo--is very much like him, except that
the tail is not black, its spots are smaller, and he has no yellow on
the bill, but a red ring round the eye.

"Kuk-kuk-kuk--couk--co-uk--co-uk!" cried the bird, as he spread his
wings and sailed off, giving the children a fine chance to see his long,
rounded, black tail with the white spots. "Are there any Owls in these
woods, Uncle Roy?" asked Nat. "You know we haven't seen an Owl yet,
though we hear one almost every night."

"Doubtless there are; but the best place to find Owls is in the old
wood, far up by the lake, where the lumbermen have their camp. The Great
Horned Owl nests there, and many Hawks besides. I will take you all
there some day, and, if you do not find the birds themselves, you can
see the wild places where they like to nest."

"Couldn't we go very soon, uncle? Next week, perhaps?" urged Dodo.

"Fourth of July comes next week," said Nat, "and uncle said we could go
down to the shore again, and take our fire-crackers! It will be such fun
to stick them in rows in the sand and make them sizzle--more fun even
than Owls! Don't you think so, Dodo?" he asked anxiously.

"Oh, yes; and then it wouldn't be polite either not to have
fire-crackers on the Fourth of July. I think the American Eagle or the
President or somebody expects children to have fire-crackers. Mammy Bun
says the first American Eagle was hatched on the Fourth of July, you
know," said Dodo earnestly. "Do you think he was, uncle?"

"No; it was the United States that were hatched on the Fourth of July,
seventeen--seventy--six," said Nat, hesitating a little over the date.

"You are both right in a way," laughed the Doctor; "but you need not
give up the Owls in order to celebrate the Eagle's birthday. We will
have an Eagle's birthday party at the beach on the Fourth; and on the
eighth--which is Dodo's birthday, if I am not mistaken--we will have an
Owl party up at the lake!"

"Oh! oh, how lovely!" cried Dodo, giving her uncle such a sudden hug and
kiss that his hat flew off. "And the lake is a long way off, so first we
go in the cars, and then in a big hay wagon with straw in the bottom--at
least, that is the way Olive said she went the last time!"

CHAPTER XXV

CANNIBALS IN COURT

Dodo's birthday and a disappointme