12 NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. 



The male was also shrewd and Avary. He 

 was not going to betray their secret, nor allow 

 his mate to do so — no ! no ! Whenever she 

 started to fly down from the bushes into the 

 grass, evidently to feed her little ones, he would 

 dart after her like a living arrow, and drive 

 her around and around over the meadow, until 

 she would drop into the grass or plunge into 

 the thicket to escape him. All the while he 

 would sing with might and main. No doubt 

 he did this to prevent her from betraying the 

 whereabouts of the nestlings. Don't you think 

 he was a cunning bird ? He seemed to say : 

 ^'There's no bobolink's nest w^ithin a mile of 

 here, sir. Why, can't you see ? Our courtship 

 days are not over ! " 



Much as I wanted to And the nest, the birds 

 outwitted me, and so I strolled farther down 

 the stream. Presently a cuckoo flew out of a 

 wild -rose copse. On pushing aside the bushes, 

 I found her nest." It contained but one egg. 

 Indeed, it was so loosely put together that I 

 did not see how it could hold more. How it 

 could sustain the weight of the sitting bird was 

 a problem. I have seen cuckoo nests that were 

 quite well built, but this bird could not have 

 been much of a carpenter. If you could see an 

 unfledged baby cuckoo I am sui'e you ^v^ould 



