124 A MEADOW NEST. 



cruelty of their worst enemies I Not less their 

 surprise and grief when, after the uproar of cut- 

 ting, raking and carrying away their only 

 screen, there entered the silent but watchful 

 spies, who planted their stools in plain sight, to 

 take note of all their doings. 



The nest, with its babies three, was wide open 

 to the sun ; no one could pass without seeing it. 

 It was in a cluster of shoots growing up from 

 the roots of an old apple-tree, and so closely 

 crowded between them that its shape was oval. 



The nestlings were nearly ready to fly, and I 

 hoped that birds brave enough to come out of the 

 woods and build among apple-trees would be 

 less afraid of people than the woods dwellers. 

 So when I learned of my comrade's discovery I 

 hastened at once to make the acquaintance of 

 this, our fourth nesting-veery of the summer. 



The parents were absent when I seated myself 

 at some distance from their homestead to wait. 

 They soon came, together, with food in their 

 mouths ; but their eager, happy manner vanished 

 at sight of me, and they abandoned themselves 

 to utter despair, after the manner of veeries. 

 They stood motionless on neighboring perches, 

 and cried and bewailed the anticipated fate of 

 those babies for all of the short time that I was 

 able to endure it. A kingbird came to the tree 

 under which I sat, to see for himself the terrible 



