MONTREAL APARTMENT TOUR - IN THE DINING ROOM - BIRDS COLLECTED WHILE LIVING IN PORT DOVER - WE SET A KIND OF INLAND-SEA THEME FOR THE HOUSE THERE AND COLLECTED ALL KINDS OF CURIOS OVER TIME SUCH AS SEASHELL BATHROOM CABINET KNOBS AND FISH DECORATIONS - THE BIRDS WERE PART OF THE EFFORT - I'VE ALWAYS LOVED BIRDS TOO - YOU SAW MANY INTERESTING ONES ON LAKE ERIE OVER THE YEARS - THE MOST DRAMATIC WAS THE ANNUAL RETURN OF FLOCKS OF TUNDRA SWANS FROM THE SOUTH WHERE THEY WINTER - THEY ARE VERY LARGE AND GRACEFUL BIRDS - ONE OF THE FIRST TIMES WE SAW THEM RETURN, THE ENTIRE FLOCK SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT ALMOST UNDER OUR WINDOWS, RESEMBLING A FLEET OF STURDY LITTLE BOATS BOBBING ON THE WATER - THEY GAVE PERIODIC LITTLE HONKS, THE SOURCE SHIFTING FROM BIRD TO BIRD, I GUESS AS PART OF EACH BIRD'S BIRDLY DUTIES, AND IT WENT ON THROUGH THE NIGHT - ABSOLUTELY ENCHANTING - WE SAW SOME OF THEM EVERY YEAR (WE LIVED THERE FOR MORE THAN FIVE YEARS) BUT THEY NEVER REPEATED THAT EARLY CLOSE-UP PERFORMANCE - A JOHN CHUCKMAN IMAGE