ir name for ghost is _Jeebi_, a
word rendered plural in _ug_. Without nice attention, this word will be
pronounced _Chebi_, or _Tchebi_.

Another is as follows: "Do they use any words equivalent to our habit of
swearing?" Many things the Indians may be accused of, but of the
practice of swearing they cannot. I have made many inquiries into the
state of their vocabulary, and do not, as yet, find any word which is
more bitter or reproachful than _matchi annemoash_, which indicates
simply, bad-dog. Many of their nouns have, however, adjective
inflections, by which they are rendered derogative. They have terms to
indicate cheat, liar, thief, murderer, coward, fool, lazy man, drunkard,
babbler. But I have never heard of an imprecation or oath. The genius of
the language does not seem to favor the formation of terms to be used in
oaths or for purposes of profanity. It is the result of the observation
of others, as well as my own, to say, that an Indian cannot curse.

_31st_. The ornithology of the north is very limited in the winter. We
have the white owl, the Canada jay, and some small species of
woodpeckers. I have known the white partridge, or ptermigan, to wander
thus far south. This bird is feathered to the toes. There are days when
the snow-bird appears. There is a species of duck, the _shingebis_, that
remains very late in the fall, and another, the _ae-ae-wa,_ that comes
very early in the spring.

The _T. polyglottis_, or buffoon-bird, is never found north of 46 deg. N.
latitude in the summer. This bird pours forth all sorts of notes in a
short space of time, without any apparent order. The thrush, the wren,
the jay, and the robin are imitated in as short a time as it takes to
write these words.

_7th_. During severe winters, in the north, some species of birds extend
their migrations farther south than usual. This appears to have been the
case during the present season. A small bird, yellowish and cinereous,
of the grosbec species, appeared this day in the neighborhood of one of
the sugar-camps on the river below, and was shot with an arrow by an
Indian boy, who brought it up to me. The Chippewas call it
_Pashcundamo_, in allusion to the stoutness of its bill, and consequent
capacity for breaking surfaces.[37]

[Footnote 37: This specimen was sent to the New York Lyceum, where it was
determined to be an undescribed species, and named _Fringilia
vespertina_, or evening grosbec.]

_8th_. The ice on the river sti