A MERRY PIPER. 213 



One spring a pair of catbirds made a nest in 

 some bushes at tlie border of the woods, and 

 reared their brood, and then left the little grassy 

 cot, which soon became a good deal shattered. 

 That summer — or the next, I can not recall 

 which — I was greatly surprised to find that a 

 female cardinal bird had repaired the old nest, 

 straightening up the walls and adding new ma- 

 terial, and was sitting on several eggs, from 

 which she raised a family. 



You must not suppose that the madam is 

 so brilliantly colored as her lord. Her color is 

 a grayish brown, with here and there a dash of 

 red. Thus she does not make so plain a mark 

 for the gunner, nor is she so easily seen by her 

 enemies as she sits on her nest, proving the 

 well-known theory of ^^ protective coloration." 



