A WOODLAND INTIMATE. 29 



her feet for the purpose, till I expected 

 every moment to see her slip away ; but 

 presently she grew quiet again, and I with- 

 drew, leaving her in possession. 



By this time a daily interview had come 

 to be counted upon as a matter of course, 

 by me certainly, and, for aught I know, 

 by the vireo as well. On my next visit I 

 stroked the back of her head, allowed her 

 to nibble the tip of my finger, and was 

 greatly pleased with the matter-of-fact man- 

 ner in which she captured an insect from 

 the side of the nest, while leaning out to 

 oversee my manoeuvres. Finally, on my 

 offering to lay my left hand upon her, she 

 quit her seat, and perched upon a twig, 

 fronting me ; and when I put my finger to 

 her bill she flew off. Even now she made 

 no outcry, however, but fell immediately to 

 singing in tones of absolute good -humor, 

 and before I had gone four rods from the 

 tree was back again upon the eggs. Of 

 these, I should have said, there were four, 

 the regular complement, all her own. 

 Expert as cow-birds are at running a block- 

 ade, it would have puzzled the shrewdest of 

 them to smuggle anything into a nest so 

 sedulously guarded. 



