254 IN "THE SNUGGERY" 



bird. I first saw him hovering along the 

 edge of a cottage roof, I thought perhaps 

 seeking small spiders, as a humming-bird will 

 hover before an old fence or even a rock for 

 the same purpose. Later, however, I saw him 

 hovering before the tips of the spruce-twigs, 

 and even the tall weeds. Then I bethought 

 me that there is little fresh water on this 

 Island accessible to birds, and none near this 

 grove. Whenever I saw this performance it 

 had been raining, and the conclusion seemed 

 to be obvious that it was water he sought. 



A sort of soft baby-talk about the trees 

 had interested and baffled me for days, until 

 one evening I was sitting quietly on the 

 piazza, when suddenly I saw two tree-swal- 

 lows flying around and uttering the very 

 sound I was trying to locate. One alighted 

 near the top of a spruce-tree and was fed, 

 which proclaimed him a youngster, and after 

 two or three feedings he was left alone. 

 There he sat a long, long time, with a patience 

 and repose remarkable in one of the restless 

 swallow family. He might have been a 

 wooden bird, and I began to suspect he was 

 left there for the night. Meanwhile it grew 



