Oven-bird 59 



high among the tree-tops — is rarely heard, or 

 if heard is not recognised as the teacher's 

 aerial serenade. He is a warbler, let it be re- 

 corded, who really can sing, and beautifully, 

 however rarely. 



Why is he called the oven-bird? A little 

 girl I know was offered five dollars by her father 

 if she could find the bird's nest in the high dry 

 woods near her home. ''Teacher!'' was the 

 commonest sound that came from them. It 

 rang in her ears all day, so of course she thought 

 it would be ' 'too easy' ' to earn the money. Every 

 afternoon, when school was out, she tramped 

 through the woods hour after hour, poking about 

 among the dead leaves, the snapping twigs, 

 the velvety moss, the fallen logs, the young 

 spring growth of the little plants and creepers, 

 always keeping her eyes on the ground where 

 she knew the nest would be found. Day after 

 day she continued the search. Every time she 

 saw a little hump of dead leaves or twigs and 

 grasses her heart bounded with hope, but on 

 closer examination she found no nest at all. 

 Finally, one day when she was becoming dis- 

 couraged, she spied in the path a little brownish 

 olive bird, about the size of an English sparrow, 

 but with a speckled, thrush-like breast and a 

 dull orange V-shaped patch, bordered by black 

 lines, on the top of his head. He was walking 

 about on the ground, nodding his head as if 



