46 BIRD STORIES FROM BURROUGHS 



in that vineyard, no bigger than his hand, where 

 the horse's foot must not be allowed to fall, nor 

 tooth of cultivator to touch. Then I showed him 

 the nest, and charged him to avoid it. Probably 

 if I had kept the secret to myself, and let the 

 bird run her own risk, the nest would have es- 

 caped. But the result was that the man, in elab- 

 orately trying to avoid the nest, overdid the 

 matter ; the horse plunged, and set his foot 

 squarely upon it. Such a little spot, the chances 

 were few that the horse's foot would fall exactly 

 there ; and yet it did, and the birds' hopes were 

 again dashed. The pair then disappeared from 

 my vicinity, and I saw them no more. 



