THE DANDELION BURGLAR 177 



caterpillar, until I chanced to see him alight near 

 by with a white tuft in his bill. Yes, a tuft with 

 feathery parachutes in a bunch on one side of his 

 bill, and a compact cluster of seeds on the other. 



In a moment I was among the dandelions from 

 which he had flown, and soon found my empty 

 calyx, from which an entire dandelion ball had 

 been taken at one pinch. I lost no time in trac- 

 ing out the nest in the foot of an apple-tree close 

 by. A dainty fabric it was, exquisitely adorned 

 with gray lichens and skeletonized leaves, its inte- 

 rior very plentifully lined with the seeds of the 

 dandelion, more so than is usual with the nests of 

 this bird. On two occasions since I have seen 

 other small birds of the warbler kind suspicious- 

 ly rummaging among the dandelions, and have 

 afterwards discovered the empty calyx. There is 

 probably more than one dandelion burglar. 



