GLIMPSES OF WILD LIFE 189 



yet that dainty casket with its complement of 

 speckled eggs ! The nest was so placed that it had 

 for canopy a large, broad, drooping leaf of yellow 

 dock. This formed a perfect shield against both sun 

 and rain, while it served to conceal it from any curi- 

 ous eyes from above, from the cat, for instance, 

 prowling along the top of the wall. Before the 

 eggs had hatched the docken leaf wilted and dried 

 and fell down upon the nest. But the mother bird 

 managed to insinuate herself beneath it, and went on 

 with her brooding all the same. 



Then I arranged an artificial cover of leaves and 

 branches which shielded her charge till they had 

 flown away. A mere trifle was this little bob-tailed 

 bird with her arts and her secrets, and the male with 

 his song, and yet the pair gave a touch of something 

 to those days and to that place which I would not 

 willingly have missed. 



I have spoken of. nature as a stage whereon the 

 play, more or less interrupted and indirect, con- 

 stantly goes on. One amusing actor upon that stage 

 one season, upon my own premises, was a certain 

 male bluebird. To the spectator it was a comedy, 

 but to the actor himself I imagine it was quite seri- 

 ous business. The bird and his mate had a nest in 

 a box upon an outhouse. In this outhouse was a 

 window with one pane broken out. At almost any 

 hour in the day from spring to early summer, the 

 male bird could be seen fluttering and pecking against 

 this window from the outside. Did he want to get 

 within ? Apparently so, and yet he would now and 



