pine abode there. It was one of those cathe- 

 dral-like clumps, a holy of holies of the woods, 

 into whose dim silence the straggling bushes, 

 briers, and other lowly forest folk dare not come, 

 but fall upon their knees outside and worship. 



The birds, however, are not so reverent. I 

 was scarcely stretched upon the needles when a 

 slight movement overhead arrested my atten- 

 tion. As I looked, a soft fluttering of wings 

 brought a blue jay into the branches directly 

 above me. There is nothing peculiar in finding 

 a blue jay among the pines they usually nest 

 there, ^ut there was something peculiar about 

 this jay ; he moved so quietly, he appeared so 

 entirely unconscious of me, though I knew that 

 he saw me as plainly as I him. Then at his side 

 alighted his mate, meeker and more modest 

 than a chippy. 



What did it signify these squawking, scold- 

 ing, garrulous birds suddenly gone silent and 

 trustful ? In the pines at this season one never 

 gets nearer a jay than field-glass range near 

 enough to hear him dash away, screeching de- 

 fiance. But here were these two gliding among 

 the branches above my head as cautiously and 

 [190] 



