WILD LIFE AT HOME. 



eggs in I got iny brother to make a study of it. 

 A day or two alterwards my fears proved to have 

 been well grounded, for I found the nest 

 dragged more than half-way out and all the eggs 

 but one lying broken at the bottom of the ditch. 

 The remaining egg had a long jagged rent in it, 

 which I judged to have been made by a cat's 

 claw, but it is never safe to jump to conclusions. 

 I reasoned with myself that no cat could have got 

 at the nest without either making a spring across 

 the ditch or from the bottom of it, and, if so, 

 there ought to be evidence of the fact in the 

 shape of hairs on the sticks and bushes imme- 

 diately in front of the jam-jar. Examination 



