WHICH WAS THE MOTHER BIRD? 193 



seemed bewildered, but she followed in their wake 

 — we all followed. Here came a closer test. 

 Both lazuli and wren-tit stood before the small 

 bird. Which would it go to ? The lazuli kept 

 silent, but the wren-tit called softly and the little 

 one raised its wings and flew toward her, leaving 

 its mother behind. 



I watched and waited, but the wren-tit did not 

 give over her kind offices, and the last I saw of 

 the birds, on riding away, the three were flying 

 in procession across the brush, the lazuli following 

 its mother and the wren-tit bringing up the rear. 



I went home very much puzzled. Was the 

 wren-tit a lonely mother bird who had lost her 

 own little ones, or was she merely an old maid 

 with a warm spot in her heart for other peoples' 

 little folks ? 



