172 DAYS OUT OF DOORS. 



upon me I might be very near the nest where I sat, and 

 so was the cause of the bird's discomfort. This proved to 

 be true. I had one foot dangerously near the structure, 

 which filled a little cave that I think the bird must have 

 dug. Perhaps not ; but it was a happy find, if of other 

 origin. A more unlikely place could not well be imagined. 

 I quickly withdrew, but kept my eye on the spot, and 

 soon the bird flew to it and then came away, chirping in 

 a very satisfied manner. It evidently thought that all 

 danger was passed; and so it was, so far as I was con- 

 cerned. The young were nearly ready to leave their nest, 

 and two days after, when I again visited the spot, I found 

 the brood had dispersed. It was not a voluntary nest- 

 leaving, however, and soon I found one of the young birds 

 perched in a low shrub. The antics of the parent bird 

 were very amusing and at times pathetic. By every means 

 it endeavored to draw me away by feigning every degree 

 of helplessness. Its strangest action was to raise one wing 

 straight up and trail the other, as though it was broken, 

 and then run along the ground with a ludicrous halt gait. 

 Finding this of no avail, it came very near me and chirped 

 vigorously, and induced the timid young bird to leave its 

 perch and hide in the grass near by. 



The other young were some distance off and not to- 

 gether ; so the parent bird had a hard time of it feeding 

 them. I saw but one parent, and this is true of the one 

 other nest I have found. Does the male bird leave his 

 mate after incubation commences ? I have found many 

 a nesting bird, particularly vireos and fly-catchers, where 

 but the one parent was to be seen ; and I am as yet unable 

 to determine the cause. These pretty creeping warblers 

 have no end of pretty ways, and often are surprisingly 

 unsuspecting. I wandered into a weedy meadow recently, 

 having no special object then in view. Do not think be- 

 cause a meadow is weedy, it is necessarily repulsive. This 



