AT NATURAL BRIDGE 259 



Carrying these, she disappeared in a bramble 

 and grapevine thicket. I waited, but she 

 did not come back. Then I stole into the 

 place after her, and in a moment there she 

 was before me ; but without complaint or 

 any symptom of perturbation she passed 

 quietly along, and again I lost her. I kept 

 my position till I was tired, and then went 

 back to the wood and sat down ; and in a 

 few minutes — how it happened I could not 

 tell — there she stood once more, wearing 

 the same innocent, preoccupied air. This 

 time I saw her fly down the slope and dis- 

 appear in a clump of undergrowth. I fol- 

 lowed, took a seat, waited, and continued to 

 wait. All was in vain. That was the last 

 of her. She had played her cards well, or 

 perhaps I had played mine poorly ; and 

 finally I turned my steps homeward, where 

 a comparison of my notes with Dr. Coues's 

 description proved the bird to be, as I had 

 believed, a female cerulean warbler. Her 

 nest would probably be the first one of its 

 kind ever found in Virginia. 



On the way a male sang and showed him- 

 self. Now, too, I discovered for the first 

 time that there were tupelo-trees among the 



