86 A BIR&S-NEST HUNTER. 



be rewarded with something else. For ex- 

 ample, while I was unsuccessfully playing 

 the spy upon a pair of my solitary vireos, 

 a female tanager suddenly dropped into her 

 half-built nest in a low pine-branch, at the 

 same time calling softly to her mate, who 

 at once came to sit beside her. Unfortu- 

 nately, one of the pair very soon caught sight 

 of me, and they made off in haste. I lin- 

 gered about, till finally the lady appeared 

 again, with her beak full of sticks, standing 

 out at all points of the compass. She was 

 so jealous of my espionage, however, that it 

 looked as if she would never be rid of her 

 load. No sooner did she alight in the tree 

 than she began to crane her neck, staring 

 this way and that, and chipping nervously ; 

 then she shifted her perch ; then out of the 

 tree she went altogether ; then back again ; 

 then off once more ; then back within a 

 yard of the nest; then away again, till at 

 last my patience gave out, and I left her 

 mistress of the field. All this while the 

 male was in sight, flitting restlessly from 

 tree to tree at a safe distance. I have never 

 witnessed a prettier display of connubial 

 felicity than this pair afforded me during 



