nest. The loud talk of three of the birds at- 

 tracted me. Two of them were together, and 

 just mated, evidently ; the third was a male, and 

 just as plainly the luckless suitor. He was 

 trying to start a quarrel between the young 

 couple, doing his best to make the new bride 

 break her vows. He flew just ahead of them, 

 darting to the ground, scuttling under the brush, 

 and calling out, " See here ! Come here ! Don't 

 fool with him any longer ! I have the place 

 for a nest ! " 



But the pair kept on together, chatting 

 brightly as they ran up and down the trees and 

 hunted under the fallen limbs and leaves for a 

 home-site. The male led the way and found the 

 places ; the female passed judgment. I followed 

 them. 



Every spot the cock peeped into was the finest 

 in the woods ; his enthusiasm was constant and 

 unbounded. "Any place is heaven," he kept 

 repeating, "any place, so long as I have you." 

 But she was to do the housekeeping, and the 

 ecstasies of the honeymoon were not to turn her 

 head. She was house-hunting ; and, like every 

 woman, at her best. She said "no," and "no," 



[99] 



