174 A-BIRDING ON A BRONCO. 



this horrid discovery came like a tragedy in the 

 family of a friend. 



And what did it all mean? Unless the old 

 wrens had been dead, could the linnets have 

 gotten possession ? The wrens were usually able 

 to hold their own in a discussion. If the nestlings 

 had been alive, would the linnets — would any 

 bird — have built upon them, deliberately bury- 

 ing them alive? It seemed too diabolical. On 

 the other hand, what could have killed the little 

 wrens and left them in the nest ? If they had 

 been dead when the linnets came to build, how 

 could the birds have chosen such a sepulchre for 

 a building site ? 



Grieving over my little friends, I cleaned out 

 the nosebag and hung it up on its peg. Three 

 weeks later I discovered, to my great perplexity, 

 that a pair of wrens had built in the bottom of 

 the bag and had one egg in the nest. Now, was 

 this the same pair of birds that had built there 

 before, and if so, what did it all mean ? 



