102 OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS. 
darted to a cypress hedge where there were plenty of 
spiders’ webs. She gathered a bill full of this web 
and returned to the shrub. In a moment she was off 
to the pampas grass again, and we stole up to look. 
Not three feet from the ground was the beginning of 
the smallest nest. As yet it was a mere filmy platform 
set where two twigs joined hands, beneath a cluster of 
bluish-green leaves. 
The bird was shy and would not return while we 
were in sight, so we went away and waited, knowing 
that we must be very careful not to disturb her if we 
wished her to finish her nest. 
Taming this little bird was the work of many days. 
At first we sat perfectly still on the door-steps, not ten 
feet away. She saw us even there, and would wait in 
the trees above for a long while before she was quite 
sure we would not harm her. In a day or two we 
could sit on the steps or move about, but not too near. 
Before the nest was as large as a walnut the bird 
allowed us to watch her a few feet away, provided we 
stood motionless. She was indeed a delicate creature, 
winding the web around and around, so that the pampas 
tufts should be thick and firm. 
On New Year’s day the first tiny oblong white egg 
was laid. It was a gem, the size of a navy bean, ina 
nest-setting of silver-gray softness. We clasped our 
hands in delight at this beginning of what would be 
living rainbow tints. In four days its mate was laid 
by its side. These birds always lay just two eggs. 
