124 BIRD WORLD. 



little foster-mother no peace, and you wonder she is 

 not utterly worn out. If you caught the two birds 

 and looked at their passports, you could find very 

 little close family resemblance, and would feel sure 

 that the young bird was no true child of the other. 



But where are the bird's own brood .^ Did she 

 have none, and has she adopted an orphan ? 



This is the sad part of the story, for even in Bird 

 World there are some very rascally characters, it 

 would seem, and the truth about them must be told. 

 The little Vireo or Redstart had built her nest and 

 laid her eggs in it; but one morning, while she had 

 left it for a moment to get food, a larger bird had 

 come sneaking through the bushes and had dropped 

 her own big ^^^ into the nest, among the pretty little 

 ones that really belonged there. 



When the Vireo or Redstart came back, she expected 

 to settle herself comfortably on the nest, with her bill 

 and tail and little black eye just showing over the 

 edge, to brood and brood all the long day. What 's 

 to be done ? She calls in great excitement to her 

 mate, and the pair have a long consultation, but they 

 are not strong to throw the ^^^ out, and if they desert 

 the nest their own precious eggs will never hatch, so 

 they decide to make the best of it, not knowing that 

 what they call best is really the very worst. For, as 

 soon as the mother settles down, the big ^g^ gets all 



