CHAPTER V 



Unusual Experiences Afield 



ONE day in searching along a wooded slope 

 of the Wabash for birds' nests I noticed a 

 small greyish brown bird fluttering among 

 the leaves a few yards from me. I thought at 

 first that she was practising the subterfuge of the 

 plover family and some of the other small game 

 birds by pretending that she had a broken wing, 

 in order to toll me from a nest location on the 

 ground; but closer inspection disclosed that she 

 was a female indigo finch in great distress. From 

 her wide-spread wings and the manner in which 

 she was gasping for breath, I imagined that her 

 spine had been injured by a sling-shot or by some- 

 thing having fallen on her back. 



On my going nearer she proved to be so nearly 

 dead that she was unable to fly; so I picked her 

 up to see if her trouble was apparent, and if there 

 was any first aid that I could offer to an injured 

 bird. I first examined her wings and found that 

 they were not broken. Then I began blowing 

 up the feathers on her back to see if there was a 

 wound of any kind, but there was none. On re- 

 versing her to examine her breast and underparts, 



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