A BIRD'S-NEST HUNTER. 89 



ing, and proceeded with her labors, quite 

 undisturbed by my proximity and undis- 

 guised interest. It was to be remarked 

 that she had trimmed the outside of her 

 nest with lichens before finishing the inte- 

 rior ; and I especially admired the very 

 clever manner in which she hovered against 

 the dead pine-trunk, from which she was 

 gathering strips of bark. Concerning her 

 unsuspiciousness, however, it should be said 

 that the word applies only to her treatment 

 of myself. When a thrasher had the im- 

 pertinence to alight in her oak she ordered 

 him off in high dudgeon, dashing back and 

 forth above him, and snapping spitefully 

 as she passed. She knew her rights, and, 

 knowing, dared maintain. When a bird 

 builds her nest in any part of a tree she 

 claims every twig of it as her own. I have 

 even seen the gentle-hearted chickadee re- 

 sent the intrusion of a chipping sparrow, 

 though it appeared impossible that the lat- 

 ter could be suspected of any predatory or 

 sinister design. 



The shallowness of the wood pewee's sau- 

 cer-shaped nest, its position upon the branch, 

 and especially its external dress of lichens, 



