FEATHERED GEMS 



it is one of the beauties of this delightful "Sport of Bird 

 Study" that the unexpected is always liable to happen. 



It was thus unexpectedly that I happened upon my 

 only nest of the Nashville Warbler. Ned and I were 

 going up into some woods where a pair each of Broad- 

 winged and Cooper's Hawks nested, on the fifteenth 

 of May. We were following an old cart-road bordering 

 a field and the woods on a side-hill. On the side toward 

 the field was a low grassy bank, about three feet high. 

 Just as I passed close to a certain spot, out darted a 

 small warbler from the grass of the bank, within arm's 

 reach of me, and fluttered over the road, quivering its 

 wings. Now, when a warbler quivers its wings one 

 may be very sure that there are either nest or young 

 near by, so I was on the alert. The bird then flew up 

 into a low tree and began a scolding "chip, chip." 

 After identifying it positively as a Nashville, we went 

 eagerly to work to look for the nest. But, though we 

 examined carefully every inch of the ground, there was 

 absolutely no sign of it, except a little hollow amid 

 some dry grass. I told Ned that I believed the bird 

 had just scratched it out preparatory to beginning to 

 build and that we would look again later. 



On the 29th of May we were there once more. No 

 bird flew out and no nest could we discover. Just as 

 I was wondering if we could not have mistaken the 

 spot, Ned's sharp eyes detected a little opening in the 

 dry grass, and in underneath was a dainty little cup of 

 moss lined with grass, and five tiny white eggs with 



218 



