"ASSISTED" OUT OF THE NEST. 85 



She seemed so dismayed that I laughed, while 

 those wrenlings made the air fairly hum about 

 her head. 



That they were ready to fly, and only waiting 

 for " the Discourager of Hesitancy " to start 

 them, was plain, for every one used his little 

 wings manfully, perhaps I should say wren- 

 f idly, and flew from fifteen to twenty feet 

 before he came down. In less than a minute 

 the air jvas filled with wren-baby chirps, and we 

 seated ourselves to await the mother's return and 

 witness the next act in the wren drama. The 

 mother took it philosophically, recognizing the 

 chirps, and locating them with an ease and pre- 

 cision that aroused envy in us bird-lovers, to 

 whom young-bird calls seem to come from every 

 direction at once. She immediately began to 

 feed, and to collect them into a little flock. 

 With her help we also found them, and watched 

 them a long time : their pretty baby ways, their 

 eager interest in the big world, their drawing 

 together as they heard one another's voices, and 

 their cozy cuddling up together on a log. 



Feeling that we had made disturbance enough 

 for one day, we finally went home ; but the next 

 day, and several days thereafter, we hunted up 

 the little family as it wandered here and there 

 in the woods, noting the putting on of pert wren 

 ways, and the growth of confidence and helpful- 



