BASHFUL DRUMMERS. 217 



utes before ; but his lookout was most 

 likely sharper than mine. At all events, 

 he dropped off the wall on the further side, 

 and for that time I saw nothing more of 

 him. Nor was I more successful the next 

 time, nor the next. Be as noiseless as I 

 could, the wary creature inevitably took the 

 alarm. To make matters worse, mornings 

 were short and birds were many. One day 

 there were rare visiting warblers to be 

 looked after ; another day the gray-cheeked 

 thrushes had dropped in upon us on their 

 way northward, and, if possible, I must 

 hear them sing. Then the pretty blue 

 golden- winged warbler was building her 

 nest, and by some means or other I must 

 find it. 



Thus season after season slipped by. 

 Then, in another place, I accidentally 

 passed quite round a drummer. I heard 

 him on the right, and after traveling only 

 a few rods, I heard him on the left. He 

 must be very near me, and not far from the 

 crest of a low hill, over which, as in the 

 former instance, a stone wall ran. He 

 drummed at long intervals, and meanwhile 

 I was straining my eyes and advancing at 



