84 THE WITCHING WREN. 



when I held a maple bough before my face, and 

 my garments harmonized perfectly with my sur- 

 roundings. She always came near and bowed to 

 me, jerked herself up, and flirted her wings and 

 tail, as if to say, " I know you. You need n't 

 try to hide." When I went too near, as on the 

 occasion spoken of, while she was much more 

 wary she was not afraid, and I had no compunc- 

 tions about studying her quaint ways. 



We were exceedingly desirous of seeing that 

 family start out in life, and we did, in a way 

 that startled us as much as it must have sur- 

 prised them. " I wonder if they 're gone," was 

 our anxious thought every morning as we ap- 

 proached ; and one day, not seeing either parent, 

 we feared they had made their debut without 

 our assistance, in the magical morning hours 

 when so many things take place in the bird- 

 world. 



" I mean to see if they are still there," said 

 my comrade, creeping up to the mass of roots, 

 leaning far under, and carefully thrusting one 

 finger into the nest. 



A dynamite bomb could not have been more 

 effective, nor more shocking to us, for lo ! in 

 sudden panic five baby wrens took flight in five 

 different directions. The cause of the disturb- 

 ance rose, with a look of discomfiture on her 

 face, as if she had been caught robbing a nest. 



