Gowns, and Robes. 43 



ones, all clamouring for food at the 

 same time, must be a bewilderingly 

 troublesome possession ! Her mate 

 helps her manfully, and together 

 they make raids upon insects and 

 worms, and such other dainties, fly- 

 ing backwards and forwards to the 

 nest, which they built with such 

 care and love so dearly. 



A Wren's nest is really one of the 

 prettiest things one can find in a 

 day's march. It is often tucked 

 under the sods of a turf-topped wall, 

 or under the thatch of a shed ; 

 sometimes it is pushed away beneath 

 the gnarled roots of a tree, or against 

 a stone in a mossy bank. Always 

 it is placed where it will be sheltered 

 from wind and rain. Then it is 

 domed above, and furnished with a 

 tiny door on the sunny side, and 

 decked about with bits of moss and 

 dead leaves and twigs and lichens, 

 until even the sharpest human eyes 

 might take it for nothing more than 



