THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS. 7 



more forcibly reminded of his deficiency in this respect* 

 from observing yonder humming-bird's nest, which is 

 a marvel of fitness and adaptation, a proper setting for 

 this winged gem, — the body of it composed of a white, 

 felt-like substance, probably the clown of some plant or 

 the wool of some worm, and toned down in keeping 

 with the branch on which it sits by minute tree-lichens, 

 woven together by threads as fine and frail as gos- 

 samer. From Robin's good looks and musical turn 

 we might reasonably predict a domicile of equal fitness 

 and elegance. At least I demand of him as clean and 

 handsome a nest as the king-bird's, whose harsh 

 jingle, compared with Robin's evening melody, is as 

 the clatter of pots and kettles beside the tone of a 

 flute. I love his note and ways better even than those 

 of the orchard starling or the Baltimore oriole ; yet 

 his nest, compared with theirs, is a half-subterranean 

 hut contrasted with a Roman villa. There is some- 

 thing courtly and poetical in a pensile nest. Next to a 

 castle in the air is a dwelling suspended to the slender 

 branch of a tall tree, swayed and rocked forever by the 

 wind. Why need wings be afraid of falling ? ^Vhy 

 build only where boys can climb ? After all, we must 

 set it down to the account of Robin's democratic turn ; 

 he is no aristocrat, but one of the people ; and there- 

 fore we should expect stability in his workmanship, 

 rather than elegance. 



Another April bird, which makes her appearance 

 sometimes earlier and sometimes later than Robin, and 



