BIEDS AT A SUMMER RESORT. 81 



that moment wliat miglit not occur? How lie 

 scuttled about from twig to twig, and peered, 

 and chirped, and craned out his neck, and 

 tried to invent a plan to capture his prize ! At 

 length he found a twig from which he could, 

 by a supreme effort, reach the coveted worm. 

 Out went his head and beak along the under 

 surface of the leaf. He could just reach the 

 worm. He pecked it with his dainty bill and 

 held it for a moment, but his hold was too 

 meager ; the worm squirmed from between his 

 mandibles and toppled to the ground at my 

 feet. It was too bad that birdie had to lose 

 his breakfast, and he gave vent to his impa- 

 tience by chirping and scolding. 



That ramble brought me a very agreeable 

 surprise. In a deep, cool hollow, through 

 which a crystal brook purled, I espied a 

 warbler whose markings were new to me. 

 Its throat was black, its other under parts 

 and its crown yellow, and its general color 

 bluish ash or gray. Well, was I really to 

 have a find ? My opera glass revealed an- 

 other marking — a bright yellow spot on each 

 wing ! Ah ! I knew the little stranger in an 

 instant. It was the golden- winged warbler, a 

 bird that I had seen but once before, and then 

 he had been so shy that I had caught only 



