BIRD&-NESTS. 153 



devouring, as it were, all the rest, is one of 

 those freaks of Nature in which she would 

 seem to discourage the homely virtues of 

 prudence and honesty. Weeds and para- 

 sites have the odds greatly against them, 

 yet they wage a very successful war never- 

 theless. 



The woods hold not such another gem as 

 the nest of the humming-bird. The finding 

 of one is an event to date from. It is the 

 next best thing to finding an eagle's nest. 

 I have met with but two, both by chance. 

 One was placed on the horizontal branch of 

 a chestnut-tree, with a solitary green leaf, 

 forming a complete canopy, about an inch 

 and a half above it. The repeated spiteful 

 dartings of the bird past my ears, as I stood 

 under the tree, caused me to suspect that I 

 was intruding upon some one's privacy ; and 

 following it with my eye, I soon saw the 

 nest, which was in process of construction. 

 Adopting my usual tactics of secreting my- 

 self near by, I had the satisfaction of seeing 

 the tiny artist at work. It was the female, 

 unassisted by her mate. At intervals of two 

 or three minutes she would appear with a 

 small tuft of some cottony substance in her 

 beak, dart a few times through and around 



