''HAVING EYES THEY SEE NOT.'' 249 



they had no mates, and if the goldfinches were 

 not going to build this year, the eyes of my 

 friend, who was lying on the ground, fell upon 

 the nest. It was near the end of a lower branch 

 of the maple, ten or twelve feet from the ground, 

 and the little dame was at that moment workino: 

 upon it. She was so deeply absorbed in her 

 occupation that she did not even notice us, and 

 we studied her movements with interest, till the 

 haymakers came with wagon and oxen, and much 

 talking and shouting, to gather uj) their fra- 

 grant loads, which on that side of the field stood 

 in small stacks all ready. 



Once again, in spite of long experience, I was 

 amazed to see how deaf and blind are people to 

 what goes on about them. "We see only that 

 which concerns us," says some one, and since 

 the farmer, with whole mind bent upon making 

 a firm and symmetrical load, did not concern 

 himself with bird affairs, goldfinch work went 

 on without hindrance. The half -loaded wasfon 

 paused under the chosen branch, where the man 

 could have laid his hand upon the nest, but the 

 small builder went in and out, calling and flut- 

 tering around as freely as if he were not there. 

 As a matter of fact he was not, for though his 

 body was near, he was down in the hay, and he 

 never heard or saw the bird. 



We kept watch of the fateful branch, ready 



