14 THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS. 



forcibly reminded of his deficiency in this 

 respect from observing yonder humming- 

 bird's nest, which is a marvel of fitness and 

 adaptation, a proper setting for this winged 

 gem, the body of it composed of a white, 

 felt-like substance, probably the down of 

 some plant or the wool of some worm, and 

 toned down in keeping with the branch on 

 which it sits by minute tree-lichens, woven 

 together by threads as fine and frail as gos- 

 samer. From Robin's good looks and mu- 

 sical turn we might reasonably predict a 

 domicile of equal fitness and elegance. At 

 least I demand of him as clean and hand- 

 some a nest as the king-bird's, whose harsh 

 jingle, compared with Robin's evening mel- 

 ody, is as the clatter of pots and kettles be- 

 side the tone of a flute. I love his note and 

 ways better even than those of the orchard 

 starling or the Baltimore oriole ; yet his 

 nest, compared with theirs, is a half-subter- 

 ranean hut contrasted with a Roman villa. 

 There is something courtly and poetical in a 

 pensile nest. Next to a castle in the air is 

 a dwelling suspended to the slender branch 

 of a tall tree, swayed and rocked forever by 

 the wind. Why need wings be afraid of 

 falling ? Why build only where boys can 



