THE KETURN OF THE BIRDS 16 



orchard starling or rose-breasted grossbeak, with 

 their distant, high-bred ways. Hardy, noisy, fi'olio- 

 Bome, neighborly and domestic in his habits, strong 

 of wing and bold in spirit, he is the pioneer of the 

 thrush family, and well worthy of the finer artists 

 whose coming he heralds and in a measure prepare! 

 us for. 



I could wish Robin less native and plebeian in one 

 respect, — the building of his nest. Its coarse mate- 

 rial and rough masonry are creditable neither to his 

 skill as a workman nor to his taste as an artist. I 

 am the more forcibly reminded of his deficiency in 

 this respect from observing yonder humming-bird's 

 nest, which is a marvel of fitness and adaptation, a 

 proper setting for this winged gem, — the body of it 

 composed of a white, felt-like substance, probably the 

 down of some plant or the wool of some worm, and 

 toned down in keeping with the branch on which it 

 sits by minute tree-lichens, woven together by threads 

 as fine and frail as gossamer. From Robin's good 

 looks and musical turn we might reasonably predict 

 a domicile of equal fitness and elegance. At least I 

 demand of him as clean and handsome a nest as the 

 king-bird's, whose harsh jingle, compared with Rob- 

 in's evening melody, is as the clatter of pots and ket- 

 tles beside the tone of a flute. I love his note and 

 ways better even than those of the orchard starling 

 or the Baltimore oriole ; yet bis nest, compared with 

 heirs, is a half-subterranean hut contrasted with a 

 Roman villa. There is something courtly and poefc 



