WATSON'S CROSSING. 71 



the sound meant. The blackbirds hovered overhead 

 and protested at the invasion of their weedy haunts, al- 

 though their young had been long upon the wing. The 

 liquid notes of the swamp - sparrow trickled from the 

 hedge-row, mourning, I thought, that the protecting grass 

 should be no more ; and all unmoved upon its nest sat 

 a king-rail, which, deprived of its earlier brood, was pa- 

 tiently rearing another. There it sat, and another sweep 

 of the scythe would pass closely over it, if not, indeed, 

 through the poor bird's body. The mower drew nearer, 

 w T ith arms drawn back, when, quick as a flash of light, 

 the bird fled from the swift stroke of the shining blade, 

 and, with a wild cry, forsook her nest. An armful of 

 grass was piled about it, and the mower passed on. Tow- 

 ards evening the poor bird returned, but only to find her 

 young dead from neglect or exposure. 



Again and again, in the gloaming, I heard the wild 

 cries of the bereaved king-rail, as it seemed to utter 

 curses on those who would not leave unmolested even 

 that little tract of waste land. 



As I tarried a moment to examine the curiously twist- 

 ed branches of an overhanging maple, I noticed a broad 

 hemlock slab floating towards the boat, and when quite 

 near, discovered that it was burdened with a living 

 freight. Coiled upon a mat of dead leaves that had 

 lodged or been placed upon the slab, was an enormous 

 water-snake. While it was yet at its ease, and I at mine, 

 I examined the couch of the sleepy, if not sleeping, ser- 

 pent as best I could from a distance. It appeared to 

 have no coarse material in it, but made up of just such 



