had grown, till now its leaves hung over the 

 dainty house in an almost perfect canopy and 

 screen. 



For three weeks the walls of this house were 

 going up. Is it astonishing that, when finished, 

 they looked like a growth of the limb, like part 

 and parcel of the very tree? I made a daily 

 visit to the sapling until the young birds flew 

 away ; then I bent the tree to the ground and 

 brought the nest home. It now hangs above my 

 desk, its thick walls, its downy bed, its leafy 

 canopy telling still of the little mother's un- 

 wearied industry, of her infinite love and fore- 

 sight. So faultlessly formed, so safely saddled to 

 the limb, so exquisitely lichened into harmony 

 with the green around, this tiniest nest speaks 

 for all of the birds. How needless, how sorry, 

 would be the loss of these beautiful neighbors of 

 our copses and fields ! 



[167] 



