248 VIRGINIA 



a pair of blue yellow-backed warblers (the 

 most abundant representatives of the family 

 thus far) had begun the construction of a 

 nest in a black -walnut -tree, suspending it 

 from a rather large branch (" as big as my 

 thumb ") at a height of perhaps twenty feet. 

 It was little more than a frame as yet, the 

 light shining through it everywhere ; and 

 the bird, perhaps because of my presence, 

 seemed in no haste about its completion. I 

 saw her bring what looked like a piece of 

 lichen and adjust it into place (though she 

 carried it elsewhere first with wonderful 

 slyness !), but my patience gave out before 

 she came back with a second one. 



On Buck Hill, in the comparative absence 

 of birds, I amused myself with a " dry land 

 tarrapin," as my West Virginia acquaint- 

 ance had called it (otherwise known as a 

 box turtle), a creature which I had seen 

 several times in my wanderings, and had 

 asked him about; a new species to me, of 

 a peculiarly humpbacked appearance, and 

 curious for its habit of shutting itself up in 

 its case when disturbed, the anterior third 

 of the lower shell being jointed for that 

 purpose. A phlegmatic customer, it seemed 



