278 IN A LOG CAMP 



other nests of this bird I have seen, round 

 as a ball, with entrance on the side, and in 

 the fullness of time the nestlings made their 

 exit exactly as I have seen these minute 

 birdlings do before. A friendly visitor went 

 close and peeped into the doorway to see if 

 they had gone, when instantly there was a 

 scramble and a rush, and five baby-wrens 

 took flight in as many directions. The vis- 

 itor was startled and dismayed at the mischief 

 she had wrought, but I comforted her with 

 the assurance that as they all flew well, they 

 were no doubt ready, and perhaps even wait- 

 ing, for some such incentive to bestir them- 

 selves. 



Living in the woods away from society 

 had apparently developed some eccentricities 

 among the birds, or else they were so full of 

 joy in their paradise that it must show itself 

 in peculiar ways. The purple finch, for ex- 

 ample, after ending his usual song, added 

 many repetitions of one note, sometimes 

 changing it to a run of a few notes down the 

 musical scale. It sounded a little like the 

 robin's " laugh," and was a very pleasing 

 conclusion, for this bird's song always seems 



