FINDING BIRDS'-NESTS. 25 



the triplets on that note, while others began the 

 song on a higher note, and gave the rest a third 

 below, instead of above, as usual. 



But to return to the singer before us on that 

 memorable day. After singing a long time, he 

 suddenly began to utter the first two notes alone, 

 and then apparently to listen. We also listened, 

 and soon heard a reply of the same two notes on 

 a different pitch. These responsive calls were 

 kept up for some time, and seemed to be signals 

 between the bird and his mate ; for neither she 

 nor her nest could be found, though the pair 

 had been startled out of that very bush on the 

 preceding day. We searched the clumps of 

 shrubs carefully, but without success. 



I long ago came to the conclusion that the 

 ability to find nests easily is as truly a natural 

 gift as the ability to become a musician, or the 

 power to see a statue in a block of marble. 

 That gift is not mine. I have an almost in- 

 vincible repugnance to poking into bushes and 

 thrusting aside branches to discover who has 

 hidden there. Moreover, if a bird seems anx- 

 ious or alarmed, I never can bear to disturb her. 

 Nor indeed do I care to find many nests. A 

 long list of nests found in a season gives me no 

 pleasure; how many birds belong to a certain 

 district does not concern me in the least. But 

 if I have really studied one or two nests, and 



