134 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 



slipped in, it was the unique oven-bird's nest I 

 had been hoping to find ever since I was a child. 



In an instant I was on hands and knees peering 

 through the mysterious doorway. How interest- 

 ing ! There lay five exquisite eggs, their irregu- 

 lar brown speckles centring in a crown about the 

 larger end. What a wonderful builder the little 

 creature seemed ! His arched roof was lined so 

 smoothly with soft dry leaves it suggested a fret- 

 work ceiling. What a tiny palace of beauty had 

 this golden-crowned queen of the thrushes ! What 

 mystery that bunch of leaves held ! The little 

 brown lady might have been sitting at the mouth 

 of a fairy cave. 



The next day I found three of the eggs hatched, 

 and such absurd -looking nestlings had well been 

 taken for bird gnomes. They seemed all mouth 

 and eyeball! Small red appendages answered 

 for wings, and tufts of gray down on the skin did 

 for a coat of feathers. Even when feebly throw- 

 ing up their heads and opening their big yellow 

 throats for worms, the birds' eyes were closed so 

 fast they had an uncanny appearance. The same 

 day I had the good fortune to stumble upon an- 

 other nest. This was essentially the same, though 

 built more of fine roots. 



The ingenuity of the builders is shown by a 

 device which puzzled me greatly in my first nest. 

 I made several visits to it, and when the little 

 ones had flown, found that the grass around the 



