BIRD'S-NESTING 107 



warbler and the blue-winged warbler, more closely 

 resembling the golden- winged. When it takes after 

 the blue-winged, it is called the Lawrence warbler. 

 This specimen we studied feather by feather for over 

 half an hour at short range, and the experts of the 

 party pronounced it beyond peradventure a Brew- 

 ster's warbler, — a bird not seen often in a lifetime. 

 It was solid blue on the back, pearly white under- 

 neath, and showed white tail-feathers, together with 

 a greenish-yellow patch on the very crown of its head. 

 It had two broad yellow wing-bars, one large and the 

 other small, and its white throat, innocent of any 

 black mark, was the field-mark by which it could be 

 told from either of its parents or from its half-brother 

 the Lawrence. 



It was the Artist who made the last discovery of 

 the day. Near the crest of the mountain, he gave a 

 piercing cry and announced that he had discovered 

 an Indian cobra. We all hastened to his rescue, and 

 saw a fearsome sight. Coiled in front of him, hissed 

 and struck a bloated, swollen snake, with flattened 

 head and up-turned snout. It was none other than 

 the American puff-adder, which ought to be called 

 the bluff adder since, in spite of its threats, it is never 

 known to bite, and is really a harmless and gentle 

 snake. 



The last thing the writer can remember of that trip 

 was hearing, as he fell asleep, the Architect tell the 

 Banker of the time he found two loon 's eggs, which a 

 man had discovered on the top of a muskrat's house 

 and put under one of his hens to hatch. 



