MOTHER SHRIKE 77 



However, the silent pair in the willow-clump 

 showed nothing of the pugnacious tenacity of the 

 former Bluebeard; and never once did I hear 

 the male offer up the suggestion of a song. That 

 the youngsers that came into the world on the 

 12th of June later became as noisy as is usual 

 with these rasp-voiced little beggars, I have not 

 a doubt. I had not the pleasure of watching them 

 grow, for work called me elsewhere, and when 

 on the 12th of July I returned and visited the 

 willows by the old field, I found only a flattened 

 nest in the thicket to remind me of the stolid one. 



