THOMAS AND THOMASINA 113 



morning. They hung upside down on the sides 

 of the window, and shivered their w r ings at me 

 with pretty little cries of delight and expectation 

 expectation which was speedily gratified with 

 little bits of bacon. Thomas and Thomasina are 

 a lovely pair, and their ways are charming. The 

 hen is very small ; yet I think not young, she is so 

 very wise. 



My garden this year was privileged. Notwith- 

 standing that there was building and garden- 

 making going on near me, I had a golden-crested 

 wren's nest in the juniper, two thrushes' nests one 

 after the other, and a fly-catcher's nest. This last 

 was built in the first empty thrush's nest in the 

 clematis on the house. I felt sure that the fly- 

 catcher must be building in that nest, though it 

 carefully avoided entering the clematis exactly at 

 that point. In the autumn I had it taken down, 

 and, true enough, there was the flycatcher's nest 

 within that of the thrushes. 



March 7, 1888. 



I am rather miserable about my robins. The 

 young robin has taken possession of the drawing- 

 room window now that the lower one is shut, and 

 it drives away the old one so savagely that the 

 poor little thing is frightened to death at it, and 

 will not come till it feels sure that young Bob is 

 not at hand. Sometimes when, after long listen- 



I 



