WAS IT A SEQUEL? 49 



to keep an opera-glass focused on the spot to see 

 what was going on at their small cup. 



As the birds worked, I was filled with forebod- 

 ings by seeing a pair of wren-tits on the premises. 

 They went about in the casual indifferent way 

 sad experience had shown might cover a multi- 

 tude of evil intentions, and which made me sus- 

 pect and resent their presence. How had they 

 found the poor little gnats ? It was not hard to 

 tell. How could they help finding such talkative 

 fly-abouts ? But if birds are in danger from all 

 the world, including those who should be their 

 comrades and champions, why should not build- 

 ers keep as still at the nest as brooding birds, 

 instead of heedlessly giving information to ob- 

 servers that lurk about taking notes for future 

 misdeeds ? But then, could gnatcatchers keep 

 still anywhere at any time ? No, that was not to 

 be hoped for. I could only watch the little chat- 

 terers from hour to hour and be thankful for 

 every day that their home was unmolested. 



It was interesting to see how the jaunty indif- 

 ferent gnats would act when settling down to 

 plain matters of business. Strange to say, they 

 proved to be the most energetic, tireless, and 

 skillful of builders. Their floor had been laid — 

 on the branch — before I arrived on the scene, 

 and they were at work on the walls. The plan 

 seemed to be twofold, to make the walls compact 

 and strong by using only fine bits of material and 



