BABIES ON THE GROUND. 121 



can safely go. Young veeries and bobolinks, 

 song sparrows and warblers, who build low, ap- 

 parently take leave of the nursery as soon they 

 can stand up. Thereafter the parents must 

 seek them on the ground; and if the student 

 follows their chirps, he will often see the droll 

 little dumpy fellows running about or crouched 

 under bushes until their wing feathers shall grow 

 and lift them to the bird's world, above the dull 

 earth. 



After the exit of the family in the maples, we 

 kept closer watch of the remaining nest. Every 

 day we passed it, and not always at the same 

 hour, yet never but once did we find the mother 

 away, and seven days after that morning, when 

 not one youngster had broken the shell, the fam- 

 ily was gone. 



The young birds in the maples we had seen 

 in the nest for five days after they were hatched, 

 so we were forced to believe that either the sec- 

 ond nest had been robbed, or that the mother 

 had watched for us, and flown to cover her ba- 

 bies after they were hatched, till we had paid 

 our daily visit and passed on. This latter may 

 be the correct conclusion, and if so, her conduct 

 was entirely different from that of any veery I 

 have seen. 



Whatever cause had emptied the thrush cradle 

 we found no signs of disturbance about it, and 



