entirely to rise from beneath, or, hov- 

 ering over and over, drop down as 

 lightly as a snowflake or the petal of 

 an apple blossom. And such a pretty 

 proprietary air — the complacence and 

 importance for which great possessions 

 are often answerable! As if the trees 

 were there for her alone, the garden 

 made simply for her convenience! 



After working rapidly for two full 

 hours she paused to rest upon a dead 

 twig, opening and closing her wings in 

 the twinkling fashion ot a bluebird, an 

 exercise prefacing a breakfast taken in 

 the nearest tree as she poised beneath 

 the leaves. 



With appetite appeased she dropped 

 upon the unfinished cradle and sat so 

 still for twenty minutes that I was cer- 

 tain an egg was deposited. Doubtless 

 the misfortunes attending previous 

 nesting had interrupted the even tenor 

 of life, the second housekeeping was 

 more urgent than was anticipated. 



For ten minutes more her form was 

 motionless though her head moved 

 from side to side in a ceaseless surveil- 

 ance — a warbler lunching in the next 

 tree glanced casually in her direction, 

 and was evidently just wild with curi- 

 osity. 



The situation was too much for him; 

 he left his post hurriedly, flew over her 

 and looked down, flew under and looked 

 up, peered at her from an airy poise, 

 still undecided as to who was rocking 

 in that wonderful cradle. Craning his 

 neck he hopped along the branch till 

 he stood beside her, so near that his 

 yellow coat literally brushed her gar- 

 ments, his attitude a quick pantomime 

 of his thoughts, half paralyzed with 

 questioning surprise as to what this 

 remnant of a bird might be, not by any 

 means to be bought cheap because it 

 was a remnant. 



A quick thrust from the hummer's 

 beak brought him to his senses; he took 

 leave for a few seconds, returning 

 cross-lots to stare again from the same 

 near point of view, which unwarranted 

 impertinence was borne without flinch- 

 ing or changing her position. Later 

 on these tours of inspection were thor- 

 oughly resented, the right of territory 

 contested in many a battle when the 

 defendant advanced and retreated with 



the rapidity of lightning, making fur- 

 ious thrusts at her adversary, and chas- 

 ing him about till sheer exhaustion 

 compelled her to desist. Then she 

 would drop upon the nest still regard- 

 ing him with undistinguished contempt 

 till he took her to the tree-top, keeping 

 an eye upon her as he dropped a song 

 or swallowed an insect. 



A young woodpecker came one day 

 to her door; two quarrelsome robins 

 stopped to say good morning; and gold- 

 finches lisped their soft love notes, 

 while she only hugged her eggs more 

 closely with the dear, delicious shyness 

 of affection. 



When my little house-builder left 

 that morning I was sure that the edge 

 of a white egg rose above the low rim 

 of the nest. From the attic window it 

 was plainly visible, the cradled egg 

 rocking in the wind, but, though the 

 warbler was close by, to his credit be 

 it said he did not once trespass upon 

 other people's property. 



Twice that afternoon my lady buzzed 

 through the trees without halting to 

 look in at home, nor when night came 

 down did the wanderer return. She 

 was busy about the next morning, all 

 work being done in the early hours, 

 and by eight o'clock a second egg lay 

 beside the first. By nine o'clock the 

 following morning the regular brood- 

 ing began, the finishing touches being 

 given to the nest long before the break- 

 fast hour. 



It was a noisy location, what with the 

 clatter of lawn mowers, the drumming 

 of pianos, and the singing of canaries, 

 to which she listened with neighborly 

 interest. In that chosen place, directly 

 over the path leading from the side- 

 walk to the door, it was impossible to 

 find even a degree of seclusion. The 

 weather was fine, the piazza rarely va- 

 cant, and there were few hours in the 

 day but someone passed the nest. 



Nor did the trouble end with day- 

 light; bicycle parties made the yard a 

 starting-point for evening excursions, 

 lanterns flashed while parting guests 

 halted beneath the little house-beau- 

 tiful, until I trembled for poor 

 "Queenie" thus barred away from her 

 own door. 



Though she unvaryingly left the nest, 



