BEAUTIFUL MOTHERHOOD. 126 



at length dropping lightly as a feather upon 

 the edge, like a fairy godmother with her gifts 

 of food ; and then in a few moments suddenly 

 rise, up — up — up, with body erect as if mount- 

 ing an invisible ladder, till, at five or six feet 

 above, she shot away so swiftly no eye could 

 follow her. 



When startled, as she frequently was in her 

 close proximity to our noisy race, she darted off 

 like a flash, forward or backward, upward or 

 downward, never turning, but dashing in any 

 direction opposite to the quarter from which the 

 disturbance came. On the rare occasions when 

 she was not frightened, she seemed unable to 

 tear herself away. She would hover about her 

 nest, five or six inches from it, this side and 

 that, over and around again, with eyes appar- 

 ently fixed on her treasures, sometimes daintily 

 touching with the tip of her beak the nest, or 

 one of the nestlings, in a caressing manner. 



The small dame too, though wary and easily 

 startled, had a great deal of repose of manner. 

 When settled over her infants, she sat still 

 most of the time, not moving her head from 

 side to side in the restless way of some of her 

 family, but looking straight before her and as 

 quiet as a thrush. 



In another way the little mother ignored the 

 traditions ; she did not always hum. Until the 



