2 By Leafy Ways. 



Already the missel-thrush has put the finishing 

 touches to her great nest in the apple-tree, where, with- 

 out a leaf to hide it, it stands plain to all the world. 



In banks and walls, robins have long been busy with 

 their early broods. 



The magpie is lacing more sticks among the outworks 

 of his citadel. In many a budding elm the song-thrush 

 is singing to his mate on her nest in the thicket below. 



The mellow whistle of the blackbird, the cheerful 

 cadence of the chaffinch, and now and then on bright 

 days the music of the lark, tempt us to forget the 

 lingering bitterness of the winter, and dream of May- 

 day flowers and summer sunshine. 



Most dexterous architects are these children of the 

 air. The nests of some of them may seem by com- 

 parison rough and undecorated structures, built for use 

 and with little claim to beauty. The jackdaw blocks the 

 turret stairway with a pile of rubbish that looks like pre- 

 parations for a bonfire. The ringdove trusts her eggs 

 to a frail platform of sticks woven so carelessly that 

 their white forms are often clearly visible from below. 



Some birds, whose lives are passed chiefly on the 

 ground, make no nest whatever, and their young can 

 run in some rare cases, even fly as soon as they 

 leave the shell. But the nests of others, though used 

 only for a single season, are marvellous works of art ; 

 and of all clever builders, the most dexterous is the 

 long-tailed tit. 



In a quiet corner of the meadow, where the dubious 



