BIRDS'-NESTS. 13 1 



clad hill, round-topped, with a bold, precipitous front 

 extending half-way around it. Near the top, and along 

 this front or side, there crops out a ledge of rocks unu- 

 sually high and cavernous. One immense layer pro- 

 jects many feet, allowing a person or many persons, 

 standing upright, to move freely beneath it. There is 

 a delicious spring there, and plenty of wild, cool air. 

 The floor is of loose stone, now trod by sheep and 

 foxes, once by the Indian and the wolf. How I have 

 delighted from boyhood, to spend a summer-day there, 

 or take refuge there from a sudden shower ! Always 

 the freshness and coolness, and always the delicate 

 mossy nest of the phcebe-bird ! The bird keeps her 

 place till you are within a few feet of her, when she flits 

 to a near branch, and, with many oscillations of her 

 tail, observes you anxiously. Since the country has 

 become settled this pewee has fallen into the strange 

 practice of occasionally placing its nest under a bridge, 

 hay-shed, or other artificial structure, where it is sub- 

 ject to all kinds of interruptions and annoyances. When 

 placed thus, the nest is larger and coarser. I know a 

 hay-loft beneath which a pair has regularly placed its 

 nest for several successive seasons. Arranged along 

 on a single pole, which sags down a few inches from 

 the flooring it was intended to help support, are three 

 of these structures, marking the number of years the 

 birds have nested there. The foundation is of mud 

 with a superstructure of moss, elaborately lined with 

 hair and feathers. Nothing can be more perfect and 



