202 LITERARY PILGRIMAGES 



thing to do with it, lending to the eye the same 

 thought which the puzzled ear conveys. The 

 yellowthroats are building now, weaving their 

 grass nests in tussocks of swamp grass down by 

 the water's edge, hiding them not so uniquely 

 indeed as the parulas, but almost as well. The 

 spikes of swamp grass grow tall about each nest, 

 and its deep cup if seen at all from the outside 

 is to the eye but a tangle of the last year's grasses, 

 matted down under this year's growth. If I find 

 these nests it is only by looking directly down into 

 the heart of each tussock until I reach the right 

 one. Yet this is not particularly difficult. It 

 means only a little patience in inspection, after the 

 probable neighborhood has been defined by the 

 presence of the birds themselves. The yellow- 

 throats are shy about their nests. If you inspect 

 them too often they will leave them and begin all 

 over again in a new locality. But, away from the 

 nest, they are an easy bird to see much of. A 

 man in their neighborhood is an object of insa- 

 tiable curiosity to them, and you do not need to 

 discover them if they are near. Instead they will 

 come, creeping and peering through the bushes, 



