BIRD ENEMIES. 13 
perched upon the rim of the nest, hastily devouring 
the eggs. I soon regretted my precipitation in kill- 
ing her, because such interference is generally unwise. 
It turned out that she had a nest of her own with five 
egos, in a spruce-tree near my window. 
Then this pair of little fly-catchers did what I had 
never seen birds do before; they pulled the nest to 
pieces and rebuilt it in a peach-tree not many rods 
away, where a brood was successfully reared. The 
nest was here exposed to the direct rays of the noon- 
day sun, and to shield her young when the heat was 
greatest, the mother-bird would stand above them 
with wings slightly spread, as other birds have been 
known to do under like circumstances. 
To what extent the cat-bird is a nest-robber I have 
no evidence, but that feline mew of. hers, and that 
flirting, flexible tail, suggest something not entirely 
bird-like. 
Probably the darkest tragedy of the nest is enacted 
when a snake plunders it. All birds ‘and animals, so 
far as I have observed, behave in a peculiar manner 
toward a snake. They seem to feel something of the 
same loathing toward it that the human species expe- 
rience. The bark of a dog when he encounters a 
snake is different from that which he gives out on 
any other occasion ; it is a mingled note of alarm, 
inquiry, and disgust. 
One day a tragedy was enacted a few yards from 
where I was sitting with a book; two song-sparrows 
were trying to defend their nest against a black 
snake. ‘The curious, interrogating note of a chicken 
who had suddenly come upon the scene in his walk, 
first caused me to look up from my reading. There 
were the sparrows, with wings raised in a way pecu- 
