Vol ioof in ] General Notes. 107 



dows. I hurriedly opened the front door to give her her liberty; which 

 she seemed in no, particular hurry to take advantage of, flying about the 

 room and finally out into the large elm which overhangs our porch. In a 

 few moments she was back again sitting on the porch box, peering inquisi- 

 tively in at the window where I was at work. I took no notice of the 

 birds until on the 19th, returning from a day's outing in the country, I 

 found my letter box filled with moss and grass. Still, never thinking of 

 a bird building there, I threw it away, supposing it to have been placed 

 there by the children during my absence. A few mornings later our mail 

 carrier, finding the box full, threw it out again upon the porch floor. It 

 was then that I discovered it to be in the form of a nest and replaced it. 

 That same evening, or early next morning, there was one tiny speckled egg 

 laid, for I found it there at six a. m. Each morning, by six o'clock, there 

 would be another egg that had not been there the night before, until there 

 were five, and then she began sitting. We provided a temporary box for 

 the mails, and placed a large fern on a table in front, thus affording what 

 protection we could during the hatching process. 



"Next door to us lives a small boy who, with several companions, play 

 and shout from early till late, often running across our lawn and up on our 

 porch. The street is a very busy one and the house stands close to it, so 

 you can imagine what difficulties the little bird had to contend with and 

 with what courage and persistence she managed to make her nest. She 

 was often looked in upon by lamp light, and had bills thrust in the nest 

 before I placed the fern, and was obliged to wait until I removed them, 

 before she could return. They were both so tame that I could often call 

 them to the lower branches of the tree, where they would sit and 'talk 

 back,' but not when others were present. 



"They hatched the five eggs and got their young into the tree without 

 anything happening to distress them, and I only wish I could picture their 

 joy, on the morning when the young were able to fly. The male drew me 

 to the door with his loud singing, and I found him perched upon my ham- 

 mock rope, warbling with a sweetness I had no idea he possessed. He 

 would, occasionally, leave the rope and suspend himself in the air on a 

 level with my head, just outside the door, looking at me all the time. I 

 opened the door, thinking he wanted to come in, as he often had done, but 

 he alighted on the top of the half open screen and continued to sing. I 

 went out, and there was the first of the youngsters on the edge of the box, 

 preparing to make the trip from the nest to the tree. On top of his head 

 was a ball of fuzz like that he had worn previous to getting* his feathers, 

 making him look very comical indeed. There was only one wee bird in 

 the nest that night and by the following afternoon all had disappeared as 

 suddenly as they had come and, — listen as I would, I could not even hear 

 a note of the song I had learned to love by association with the bird that 

 sang it. 



"They were very cleanly in their habits, making no litter as I expected 

 they would. When the porch was scrubbed with a brush, or even washed 



