BIRD-NESTING WITH BURROUGHS 23 



eggs were laid, Mr. Burroughs permitted a boy visitor to 

 take one for his collection. Whether this fact was in 

 any way connected with the fate of the nest or not is un- 

 known, but, it is certain that the remaining eggs were soon 

 missing and the nest deserted. 



Shortly, they selected a new home on the horizontal 

 beam of the piazza of a recently erected dwelling overlook- 



Landlord and Tenant 



ing the valley. Here, the rafters divided the beam into ten 

 spaces, all of which, to the Phoebe, evidently looked alike. 

 She began a nest in one of these spaces, but on returning 

 with more building material, missed her aim, so to speak, 

 and began a second nest in another space. This mistake 

 was repeated until the bird had five nests in process of con- 

 struction at the same time. Probably she would not have 

 completed any one of them, if Mr. Burroughs had not cover- 

 ed four with stones. The bird was then forced to focus on 

 the fifth, which she eventually finished and on which she was 

 peacefully sitting at the time of my visit. 



