EVERYDAY ADVENTURES 13 



country. It was as if a veil had suddenly dropped 

 from my eyes, for I had been looking in that direc- 

 tion constantly, without seeing the nest directly in 

 front of me. Probably, at last, I must have slightly 

 turned my head and finally caught the light in a 

 different direction. I supposed that the nest was that 

 of the red-eyed vireo, the only one of the five vireos 

 which would be likely to build in such a location. 

 Climbing upon the wall to look at it, I saw that the 

 mother bird was on the nest. Even when I took 

 hold of the limb, she did not fly. Then I slowly 

 pulled the limb down, and still the brave little bird 

 stayed on her nest, although several times she started 

 to her feet and, ruffling her feathers, made as if to 

 fly. As the nest came nearer and nearer, I could see 

 that she was quivering all over with fear, and that 

 her heart was beating so rapidly as to shake her tiny 

 body. Finally, as she came almost within reach of 

 my outstretched hand, she gave me one long look and 

 then suddenly cuddled down over her dearly loved 

 eggs and hid her head inside of the nest. Reaching 

 my hand out very carefully, I stroked her quivering 

 little back. She raised her head and gave me an- 

 other long look, as if to make sure whether I meant 

 her any harm. Evidently I seemed friendly, for as 

 I stroked her head she turned and gave my finger 

 a little peck, then snuggled her head up against it 

 in the most confiding, engaging way. As she did 

 so, I noticed that a white line ran from the beak to 

 the eye, and that she had a white eye-ring and a 

 bluish-gray head. As I looked at her, suddenly from 



