A MIDSUMMER EXCURSION 267 



it, and the steeper bank where the river ran on the 

 left. All the time the water was rushing out, out, out 

 of the river and creeping down on the sand to make 

 low tide. 



The children did not know it then, but they were to 

 spend many happy days on this beach, in company with 

 their uncle and Olaf, during the next two years. 



The Doctor whispered something mysterious to Olaf 

 about clams, hoes, and ''dead low water"; then he 

 told the children to rest awhile under the pine shelter, 

 and hear about the Blackbirds before they went out to 

 see them in the meadows. 



THE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD 



(The Hussar) 



" This handsome Blackbird comes early and stays 

 late in places where he does not linger all the year. 

 He loves wet places, and his note is moist and juicy, to 

 match his nesting haunts. ' Oncher-la-ree ! ' he calls, 

 either in flying or as he walks along the ground after 

 the fashion of his brethren — for Blackbirds never hop, 

 like most birds, with both feet together, but move one 

 after the other, just as we do. 



"The Redwings are sociable birds, nesting in small 

 colonies, and when once settled they never seem to 

 stray far from home. The nest is a thick pocket hung 

 either between reeds over the water, or fixed to the 

 upright stems of a bush, quite near the ground, if the 

 place is very marshy. 



" The Redwings place their nests where it Avould 

 seem very easy to reach them ; but really the bushes 



