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PHCEBE 



nature-lesson for our children that she should be 

 eagerly welcomed for that reason alone. Beauti- 

 ful indeed is the sympathy that grows up between 



the family in the big mossy nest in the piazza 

 and the little folks that watch below. How fear- 

 less the old birds become as the days go by ! 

 And how anxiously all their enemies are driven 

 off for them ; how eagerly their nestlings are 

 watched ; and finally, with what mingled feelings 

 of pride and regret the first flights of the depart- 

 ing brood are witnessed ! 



When the Phoebe does not nest under the shel- 

 tering roof of a house, it often builds on a rafter 

 of an old shed or barn, where it may be seen 



