HOME BIRDS 



59 



de-ar, de-ar, come he-ar, he-re-he-re; quick-quick, 

 hurry-hurry-hurry/' 



Before long his appeal is answered by an olive- 

 brown mate. Unlike most birds of her sex she, too, 



is a vocalist, and can respond to the ardent serenade 

 of her lover with a song of her own, though it is by 

 no means so loud as his. 



If all goes well with this musical wooing, a nest 

 of twigs, rootlets and bits of grass will soon be built 

 in the nearby undergrowth, and in due time it will 

 contain three or four bluish white eggs, spotted and 

 speckled with brown. Cardinals are rarely seen 



