IN FIELD AND WOOD 



for a junco's nest," and as I stooped down to examine 

 it, out flew the bird. I had divined better than I knew. 

 What a pretty secret that little footstool of moss and 

 grass-covered earth held ! How exquisite the nest, 

 how exquisite the place, how choice and harmonious 

 the whole scene ! How could these eggs long escape 

 the prowling foxes, skunks, coons, the sharp-eyed 

 crows, the searching mice and squirrels? They did 

 not escape; in a day or two they were gone. 



Another junco's nest beside a Catskill trout stream 

 sticks in my memory. It was in an open grassy 

 place amid the trees and bushes near the highway. 

 There were ladies in our trouting party and I called 

 them to come and see the treasure I had found. 



"Where is it?" one of them said, as she stopped 

 and looked around a few paces from me. 



" It is within six feet of you," I replied. She looked 

 about, incredulous, as it seemed an unlikely place for 

 a nest of any sort, so open was it, and so easily swept 

 by the first glance. 



As she stepped along, perplexed, I said, " Now it 

 is within one yard of you." She thought I was joking ; 

 but stooping down, determined not to be baffled, she 

 espied it sheltered by a thin, mossy stone that stood 

 up seven or eight inches above the turf, tilted at 

 an angle of about that of one side of a house-roof. 

 Under this the nest was tucked, sheltered from the 

 sun and ram, and hidden from all but the sharpest 

 eye. 



273 



