EYE-BEAMS 123 



III 



A SPARROW'S MISTAKE 



If one has always built one's nest upon the ground, 

 and if one comes of a race of ground-builders, it is 

 a risky experiment to build in a tree. The con- 

 ditions are vastly different. One of my near neigh- 

 bors, a little song sparrow, learned this lesson the 

 past teason. She grew ambitious ; she departed from 

 the traditions of her race, and placed her nest in 

 a tree. Such a pretty spot she chose, too the 

 pendent cradle formed by the interlaced sprays of 

 two parallel branches of a Norway spruce. These 

 branches shoot out almost horizontally; indeed, the 

 lower ones become quite so in spring, and the side 

 shoots with which they are clothed droop down, 

 forming the slopes of miniature ridges; where the 

 slopes of two branches join, a little valley is formed 

 which often looks more stable than it really is. My 

 sparrow selected one of these little valleys about 

 six feet from the ground, and quite near the walls of 

 the house. Here, she has thought, I will build my 

 nest, and pass the heat of June in a miniature Nor- 

 way. This tree is the fir-clad mountain, and this 

 little vale on its side I select for my own. She 

 carried up a great quantity of coarse grass and straws 

 for the foundation, just as she would have done 

 upon the ground. On the top of this mass there 

 gradually came into shape the delicate structure of 

 her nest, compacting and refining till its delicate 

 carpet of hairs and threads was reached. So sly as 



