THE DANDELION BURGLAR 177 
caterpillar, until I chanced to see him alight near 
by with a white tuft in his bill. Yes, a tuft with 
feathery parachutes in a bunch on one side of his 
bill, and a compact cluster of seeds on the other. 
In a moment I was among the dandelions from 
which he had flown, and soon found my empty 
calyx, from which an entire dandelion ball had 
been taken at one pinch. I lost no time in trac- 
ing out the nest in the foot of an apple-tree close 
by. A dainty fabric it was, exquisitely adorned 
with gray lichens and skeletonized leaves, its inte- 
rior very plentifully lined with the seeds of the 
dandelion, more so than is usual with the nests of 
this bird. On two occasions since I have seen 
other small birds of the warbler kind suspicious- 
ly rummaging among the dandelions, and have 
afterwards discovered the empty calyx. There is 
probably more than one dandelion burglar. 
