32 A WOODLAND INTIMATE. 



let it drop. It was not to her taste, prob- 

 ably, for shortly afterward she caught one 

 herself, as it came fluttering near, and dis- 

 carded that also ; but she ate the remain- 

 der of ray rose-bush parasites, though I was 

 compelled to coax her a little. Seemingly, 

 she felt that our proceedings were more or 

 less irregular, if not positively out of charac- 

 ter. Not that she betrayed any symptoms 

 of nervousness or apprehension, but she re- 

 peatedly turned away her head, as if deter- 

 mined to refuse all further overtures. In 

 the end, nevertheless, as I have said, she ate 

 the very last insect I had to give her. 



During the meal she did something which 

 as a display of nonchalance was really 

 amazing. The eggs got misplaced, in the 

 course of her twisting about, and after vainly 

 endeavoring to rearrange them with her 

 feet, as I had seen her do on several occa- 

 sions, she ducked her head into the nest, 

 clean out of sight under her feathers, and 

 set matters to rights with her beak. I was 

 as near to her as I could well be, without 

 having her actually in my hand, yet she 

 deliberately put herself entirely off guard, 

 apparently without the slightest misgiving ! 



