WAS IT A SEQUEL? 51 



Now as these gnatcatchers had the bad taste to 

 dress so nearly alike that I could not tell them 

 apart, I was left to my own surmises as to which 

 took the material. Still, who could it have been 

 but Mrs. Gnat ? Would she give over the house 

 to Mr. Gnat at this critical moment ? She doubt- 

 less wanted to decorate as she went along, and 

 men are n't supposed to know anything about 

 such trivial matters ! On the other hand, it might 

 easily be he, for, supposing he had come of a fam- 

 ily of superior builders, surely he would want to 

 see to the laying of substantial walls ; and un- 

 questionably a good wall was the important part 

 of this nest. Alas ! it was a clear case of " The 

 Lady or the Tiger." To complicate matters, the 

 birds worked so fast, so high over my head, and 

 so hidden by the leaves, that I had much ado to 

 keep track of their exchanges at all. If I could 

 only catch them and tie a pink ribbon around one 

 of their necks ! — then, at least, I would know 

 which was doing what, or if it was doing what it 

 hadn't done before* ! It is inconsiderate enough 

 of birds to wear the same kind of clothes, but to 

 talk alike too, when hidden by the leaves — that, 

 indeed, is a straw to break the camel's back. If 

 small gray gnatcatchers up in the treetops had 

 only been big black magpies low in the brush, my 

 testimony regarding their performances might be 

 of more value ; but then, the magpies of my ac- 

 quaintance were so shy they would have none of 



