THE TRAGEDIES OF THE NESTS. 79 



sat down amid plenty. The wolf established himself 

 in the fold. The many birds robins, thrushes, 

 finches, vireos, pewees that seek the vicinity of 

 dwellings (especially of these large country residences 

 with their many trees and park-like grounds), for the 

 greater safety of their eggs and young, were the easy 

 and convenient victims of these robbers. They plun- 

 dered right and left, and were not disturbed till their 

 young were nearly fledged, when some boys, who 

 had long before marked them as their prize, rifled 

 the nest. 



The song-birds nearly all build low ; *their cradle 

 is not upon the tree-top. It is only birds of prey 

 that fear danger from below more than from above, 

 and that seek the higher branches for their nests. A 

 line five feet from the ground would run above more 

 than half the nests, and one ten feet would bound 

 more than three fourths of them. It is only the 

 oriole and the wood pewee that, as a rule, go higher 

 than this. The crows and jays and other enemies of 

 the birds have learned to explore this belt pretty 

 thoroughly. But the leaves and the protective color- 

 ing of most nests baffle them as effectually, no doubt, 

 as they do the professional oologist. The nest of the 

 red-eyed vireo is one of the most artfully placed in 

 the wood. It is just beyond the point where the eye 

 naturally pauses in its search ; namely, on the extreme 

 end of the lowest branch of the tree, usually four or 

 five feet from the ground. One looks up and down 

 and through the tree, shoots his eye-beams into it 



