64 BIRDS* EGGS 



The eggs of the phoebe-bird are snow white, 

 and when, in threading the gorge of some 

 mountain trout- brook, or prowling about some 

 high, overhanging ledge, one's eye falls upon 

 this mossy structure planted with such match- 

 less art upon a little shelf of the rocks, with 

 its complement of five or six pearl-like eggs, he 

 is ready to declare it the most pleasing nest in 

 all the range of our bird architecture. It was 

 such a happy thought for the bird to build 

 there, just out of the reach of all four-footed 

 beasts of prey, sheltered from the storms and 

 winds, and, by the use of moss and lichens, 

 blending its nest so perfectly with its surround- 

 ings that only the most alert eye can detect it. 

 An egg upon a rock, and thriving there, — the 

 frailest linked to the strongest, as if the geol- 

 ogy of the granite mountain had been bent into 

 the service of the bird. I doubt if crows, or 

 jays, or owls ever rob these nests. Phoebe has 

 outwitted them. They never heard of the bird 

 that builded its house upon a rock. " Strong 

 is thy dwelling-place, and thou puttest thy nest 

 in a rock." 



The song-sparrow sometimes nests in April, 

 but not commonly in our latitude. Emerson 

 says, in "May-Day:" — 



" The sparrow meek, prophetic-eyed, 

 Her nest beside the snow-drift weaves, 

 Secure the osier yet will hide 

 Her callow brood in mantling leaves." 



But the sparrow usually prefers to wait till the 

 snow-drift is gone. I have never found the 



