A WINGED CHUM i8i 



where within the radius of that circle. He de- 

 cided to go round and round in a spiral, drawing 

 nearer to the center each time, and by that means 

 not a foot of the scrub would escape careful 

 search. 



He knew just what to seek, a nest of twigs, prob- 

 ably in the yaupon bushes, about six feet up. 

 This aided the search, for he did not need to look 

 on the ground, as if for a Warbler's nest; nor in 

 the hole of a tree, as if he wished to intrude on the 

 family affairs of his friend the Chickadee ; nor in 

 the branches above his head, as though he sought 

 an Oriole. 



Every clump of bush, then, he searched with 

 painstaking care, hearing more and more fre- 

 quently the ''Pit-pit !" of alarm overhead. Then, 

 as it was drawing toward evening, and Shan had 

 begun to think he would have to go home and give 

 up the quest for that day, Shan suddenly saw 

 before him what he sought. There, in a little 

 group of saplings, just on a level with his eyes 

 and therefore a little lower than he had been look- 

 ing, was the nest of the Wood Thrush, with the 

 hen-bird sitting on the nest. 



Shan froze still. 



So did the Mother Thrush. 



