VII. 



MY LADY IN GREEN. 



TRULY a fairy-like dwelling was that nest on 

 the apple-tree ; about the size of a walnut, with 

 one leaf for a shelter. It was placed I had 

 almost said grew in a slender crotch of a 

 low-hanging bough. No coarse grass stems or 

 bark fibres bound it to its slight moorings ; it 

 seemed to stand by its own fitness, to be a part 

 of the branch itself. Soft, creamy-hued vege- 

 table cotton, pressed and felted into a certain 

 firmness of consistency, formed the structure, 

 and a close covering of lichens held it in shape 

 and completed its beauty, while giving an apple- 

 branch tone that made it almost invisible. An 

 inch in depth and the same in breadth furnished 

 ample quarters for the twin hummingbird babies 

 whose home it was. 



But the charm that had drawn me across four 

 States to study it was its situation. For when 

 lias one of those airy sprites, with the whole ex- | 

 panse of the tallest trees at command, chosen to 1 

 come down to the level of mortals, to set up her 

 domestic gods within reach of a human hand, 



