124 MY LADY IN GREEN. 



little ones were ten or twelve days old she came 

 to the nest in perfect silence ; after that she 

 began to hum, and by the time they were two 

 weeks old she came with her characteristic note 

 every time. 



It is interesting to see how all birds recognize 

 and respect the right of a mother to her own 

 tree, or the part of a tree on which she has set 

 up her home. Big birds like robins and thrash- 

 ers, even belligerent ones, who will not generally 

 allow themselves to be driven, usually depart 

 speedily before the beak of the least of mothers 

 asserting her ownership of a tree or bush ; not 

 because they are afraid of her, but because they 

 appreciate the justice of her title, and demand 

 the same for themselves. 



Small as was the apple-tree dweller, she had 

 managed, before I knew her, to establish her 

 claim to her own vicinity. Goldfinches and 

 yellow warblers, vireos and robins, were about ; 

 I heard them on all sides, but not one intruded 

 upon her tree or the neighboring sides of the 

 maples. As the young progressed and waxed 

 bumptious, she became more and more cautious. 

 She made many more angles and observations in 

 the air before alighting, looking at them from 

 every possible side, as if wishing to assure herself 

 that nothing had happened in her absence. She 

 even resented the presence under her tree of a 



