EYE-BEAMS 125 



more stable than it really is. My sparrow 

 selected one of these little valleys about six 

 feet from the ground and quite near the walls 

 of the house. Here, she has thought, I will 

 build my nest, and pass the heat of June in a 

 miniature Norway. This tree is the fir-clad 

 mountain, and this little vale on its side I 

 select for my own. She carried up a great 

 quantity of coarse grass and straws for the 

 foundation, just as she would have done upon 

 the ground. On the top of this mass there 

 gradually came into shape the delicate structure 

 of her nest, compacting and refining till its 

 delicate carpet of hairs and threads was reached. 

 So sly as the little bird was about it too — 

 every moment on her guard lest you discover 

 her secret! Five eggs were laid, and incuba- 

 tion was far advanced, when the storms and 

 winds came. The cradle indeed did rock. 

 The boughs did not break, but they swayed 

 and separated as you would part your two 

 interlocked hands. The ground of the little 

 valley fairly gave way, the nest tilted over till 

 its contents fell into the chasm. It was like 

 an earthquake that destroys a hamlet. 



No born tree-builder would have placed its 

 nest in such a situation. Birds that build at 

 the end of the branch, like the oriole, tie the 

 nest fast; others, like th3 robin, build against 

 the main trunk ; still others build securely in 

 the fork. The sparrow, in her ignorance, 

 rested her house upon the spray of two 

 branches, and when the tempest came the 



