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And how very tame will some birds become, 

 that are not usually found near our houses. We 

 expect the wren and song-sparrow to show little 

 fear ; but during the present summer I was able to 

 make friends with a redstart and a wood pewee. 

 I have a settee placed on the very edge of the pla- 

 teau so that I can see all the meadows below, and 

 along the hillside at the same time. It is an ideal 

 spot for a seat and my favorite resting-place. Di- 

 rectly in front is a cedar, and to my right, as I face 

 the meadows, an oak. On the former there is a 

 redstart's nest, and the pewee's nest is on the 

 latter. At all times of day the birds are busy fly- 

 catching, and soon learned to regard me with per- 

 fect indifference. When the redstart began to 

 build, there was some fluffy material very near the 

 settee, and it had appropriated some of it when I 

 happened to commence my visits to the spot. It 

 was disconcerted by my presence at first, but as I 

 sat perfectly still, it made a trial trip, and finding 

 I did not move, gained confidence ; and all the 

 season through, this redstart (the female was more 

 shy) paid no more attention to me than to the 

 trees and bushes about me. It frequently went so 

 far as to alight on one end of the settee while I was 

 sitting at the other. 



The nest of the wood pewee was rather farther 

 away, but the bird's favorite perch was directly op- 

 posite where I usually sat. As I did not drive away 

 the flies, the bird was not annoyed and soon ac- 

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