182 IN A COLORADO NOOK. 



like this, for it is a mere cup in the ground, 

 hidden under the thickest shrubs that the brown- 

 clad spouse of the towhee can find. If we did 

 uncover it we might not recognize it, so per- 

 fectly do the colors of the birds, old and young, 

 and even of the eggs, harmonize with the earth 

 in which it is placed. 



I once found, in another place a nest full 

 of chewink babies. It was where a patch of 

 sage bushes stretched down the mountain, bor- 

 dered by a thick clump of oak brush seven or 

 eight feet high. My attention was called to it 

 by the owner himself, who alighted on the oaks 

 with a beak full of food, and at once began to 

 utter his cry of distress, or warning to his mate. 

 The moment he began I heard a rustle of wings 

 behind me, and turning quickly had a glimpse 

 of the shy dame, skulking around a sage bush. 

 A little search revealed the nest, carefully hid- 

 den under the largest branch of the shrub. It 

 was a deep cup, sunk into the ground to the 

 brim, and three young birds opened their mouths 

 to be fed when I parted the leaves above them. 



Studying a nest among the sage bushes is not 

 so easy as one might imagine. This was so 

 closely covered by the low-growing branches 

 that I could see it only by holding them one 

 side. Moreover the sage is what is called in the 

 books a social plant ; where there is one there 



