NEIGHBORHOOD INTEREST. 5 



The next arrival was a pewee, whose own nest 

 was nearly built, in a wild-cherry tree not far 

 off. The fence under the oak was his usual 

 perch, and it was plain that he made his first 

 call with "malice aforethought;" for, disdain- 

 ing the smallest pretense of interest in it, he 

 flew directly to the nest, hovered beneath it, and 

 pulled out some part of the building material 

 that pleased his fancy, — nothing less than pure 

 thievery. 



Among the occasional visitors to the yard 

 were two American goldfinches, or thistle-birds, 

 in bright yellow and black plumage, both males. 

 They also went to the new homestead in the 

 oak, inspected it, chatted over it in their sweet 

 tones, and then passed on. It began to look as 

 though the nest were in the market for any one 

 to choose, and the string of company was not yet 

 ended. 



Soon after the goldfinches had passed by, 

 there alighted a gay Baltimore oriole, who, not 

 content with looking at the new castle in the air, 

 must needs try it. He actually stepped into the 

 nest and settled down as if sitting. Who 

 knows but he was experimenting to see if this 

 simple, wide-open cradle wouldn't do as well 

 for oriole babies as for kingbirds? Certainly 

 it was a curious performance. It made an im- 

 pression on him too, for the next day he came 



