288 LAND-BIRDS. 



causes me to turn my head, I see her pulling at another 

 piece, in the opposite direction. How cautious she is of 

 betraying her purpose, and what a vacillating course she 

 takes from tree to tree ! Is she not evidently an unusually 

 cautious bird? A neighbor, one of her own species, with- 

 out waiting for warmer weather, has already finished a 

 nest, and laid eggs, in a birch on the edge of the swamp, 

 and a " Black-throated Green," who built in the piazza-vines, 

 last year, showed no hesitation in building while persons 

 were near. But here is the Redstart again; she is now 

 refreshing herself by catching flies. It is after nine o'clock, 

 and she has probably worked for several hours; but she 

 denies herself rest, and again approaches the vine, this time 

 to gather several little strips of bark, with which she flies 

 directly to the orchard. As she enters a pear tree, pauses 

 a moment, and then flies off, I feel sure that her nest is 

 there, and so post myself close to the trunk of a neighboring 

 apple tree, motionless and silent, to await her return. She 

 immediately reappears, and, apparently not realizing my 

 presence, enters her nest, which is already shaped, and with her 

 bill firmly presses her materials into position. She next gath- 

 ers something from a tree in the orchard, but, on seeing me 

 as I move, she is frightened, and utters a chip, though her 

 mouth is quite full. Just then a most familiar sound falls 

 upon my ear, and recalls me to my biography. On looking 

 up, I see two Pewees providing food, either for their own 

 young, or for some helpless Cow-bird who has been left to 

 their care. What labor they are obliged to undergo! 

 Probably no less than a thousand insects must be procured 

 each day for several weeks. One spring, when the season 

 was backward, and the same pair were behindhand in 

 building, they proceeded to construct, side by side in a 

 shed, two nests, which were finished at the same time. 

 While the male fed the young of the first brood in one 

 nest, the female laid the eggs of a second brood in the 

 other; but whether this was their original design, or not, 

 I cannot say. 



The Pewees reach Massachusetts about the first of April, 



