occasions did I hear or see her mate, when he would 

 come to my place of observation, and, with sundry 

 bobs, utter a mildly protesting " tee ! " 



I revisited the nest again on the 2oth of July, and 

 found still only two eggs. I had fears that some- 

 thing was going wrong, for the garden-warbler as 

 a rule lays five. On the 27th there were still only 

 two eggs, and I felt certain that the little sitter's 

 pains were going for nothing, and resolved to break 

 up the nest at my next visit, for the bird had now 

 sat persistently for a month. Upon going to the 

 nest on the 3rd of August, there was only one egg 

 in it, and the bird itself was gone a fact which was 

 confirmed when I visited the nest for the last time 

 on the loth of August. What had become of the 

 missing egg, I do not know ; but, as I stood with 

 the remaining one in my warm hand, it burst spon- 

 taneously with quite a report, thus saving any nearer 

 inquiry into the state of its contents. The history 

 was complete, and all of a piece. A bird lays late, 

 the number of eggs is incomplete, and in the end 

 those laid addle. The end was foreshadowed almost 

 from the beginning. I could have wished better 

 things for my little friend, who had aided me so 

 well under difficult circumstances. 



The wood where I found the garden-warbler is 

 watered by a shallow wandering stream, which in cer- 

 tain parts, and especially during rainy weather, spreads 

 into small marshy areas. This stream, flowing at 

 times beneath arching bushes, and always shadowed 



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