BIRDS'-NESTS. 1 2 5 



intruder should fare the same as the rightful occupants, 

 and thrive with them, was more than ordinary potluck ; 

 but that it alone should thrive, devouring, as it were, 

 all the rest, is one of those freaks of nature in which 

 she would seem to discourage the homely virtues of 

 prudence and honesty. Weeds and parasites have the 

 odds greatly against them, yet they wage a very suc- 

 cessful war nevertheless. 



The woods hold not such another gem as the nest 

 of the humming-bird. The finding of one is an event 

 to date from. It is the next best thing to finding an 

 eagle's nest. I have met with but two, both by chance. 

 One was placed on the horizontal branch of a chestnut- 

 tree, with a solitary green leaf, forming a complete can- 

 opy, about an inch and a half above it. The repeated 

 spiteful dartings of the bird past my ears, as I stood 

 under the tree, caused me to suspect that I was intrud- 

 ing upon some one's privacy ; and following it with my 

 eye, I soon saw the nest, which was in process of con- 

 struction. Adopting my usual tactics of secreting my- 

 self near by, I had the satisfaction of seeing the tiny 

 artist at work. It was the female unassisted by her 

 mate. At intervals of two or three minutes she would 

 appear with a small tuft of some cottony substance in 

 her beak, dart a few times through and around the tree, 

 and alighting quickly in the nest arrange the material 

 she had brought, using her breast as a model. 



The other nest I discovered in a dense forest on the 

 side of a mountain. The sitting bird was disturbed as 



