180 IN THE MIDDLE COUNTRY. 



would be induced to hurry up his very leisurely 

 brood. 



We took our usual seats and waited. Both 

 parents remained near the homestead, and little 

 singing was indulged in ; this morning there 

 was serious business on hand, as any one could 

 see. We were desirous of seeing the first sign 

 of movement, so we ' resolved to cut away the 

 last few leaves that hid the entrance to the nest. 

 We had not done it before, partly not to annoy 

 the birds, and partly not to have them too easily 

 discovered by prowlers. 



Miss R- went to the stump, and cut away 



half a dozen leaves and twigs directly before 

 their door. The young ones looked at her, but 

 did not move. Then, as I had asked her to do, 

 she pointed a parasol directly at the spot, so 

 that I, in my distant seat, might locate the nest 

 exactly. This seemed to be the last straw that 

 the birdlings could endure ; two of them flew 

 off. One went five or six feet away, the other 

 to the ground close by. Then she came away, 

 and we waited again. In a moment two more 

 ventured out and alighted on twigs near the 

 nest. Then the mother came home, and acted 

 as surprised as though she had never expected 

 to have them depart. She went from a twig be- 

 side the tree to the nest, and back, about a dozen 

 times, as if she really could not believe her eyes. 



