BIRDS WITH A HANDICAP 



tiny, delicate cup, made of the softest plant down, sad- 

 dled upon some rather slender branch, so deftly that it 

 seems a part thereof. Delicate cobweb threads are 

 used to compact and secure the material, and likewise 

 to coat the exterior with the gray-green lichens so gen- 

 erally found upon trees. This makes it so assimilate 

 with the surroundings that it is a very difficult object 

 to discover. And thereby hangs a tale. A gentleman 

 had told me that, if I would call upon him, he would 

 show me an occupied nest of a Hummingbird in his 

 orchard. When I came he was out of town, but I 

 thought I would see if I could not find the nest myself. 

 So I made inspection from tree to tree, and presently 

 the female hummer began to fly about me anxiously. 

 We played a game of hot and cold until it became 

 evident that the nest must be in a certain low apple tree 

 which had many dead, lichen-covered branches. Some 

 of these came down nearly to the ground, and for quite 

 a while I stood by the tree, running my eyes along each 

 branch in order, trying to make out the nest, while the 

 female kept darting frantically at my head. It must 

 have been nearly a quarter of an hour before I dis- 

 covered that I was standing almost touching the nest 

 with my hands, having been looking right over it all 

 the time. It contained two fresh eggs, this being in 

 the early part of June. The branch upon which it was 

 built was completely overgrown with lichens, and the 

 nest, covered with them too, was wonderfully disguised, 

 though there were no leaves to hide it. 



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