26 BIRDS. 



May, a song-sparrow, that had evidently met with 

 disaster earlier in the season, built its nest in a thick 

 mass of woodbine against the side of my house, about 

 fifteen feet from the ground. Perhaps it took the 

 hint from its cousin, the English sparrow. The nest 

 was admirably placed, protected from the storms by 

 the overhanging eaves and from all eyes by the thick 

 screen of leaves. Only by patiently watching the. 

 suspicious bird, as she lingered near with food in her 

 beak, ^id I discover its whereabouts. That brood is 

 safe, 1 thought, beyond doubt. But it was not ; the 

 nest was pillaged one night, either by an owl, or else 

 by a rat that had climbed into the vine, seeking an 

 entrance to the house. The mother-bird, after reflect- 

 ing upon her ill-luck about a week, seemed to resolve 

 to try a different system of tactics and to throw all 

 appearances of concealment aside. She built a nest 

 a few yards from the house beside the drive, upon a 

 smooth piece of greensward. There was not a weed 

 or a shrub or anything whatever to conceal it or mark 

 its site. The structure was completed and incubation 

 had begun before I discovered what was going on. 

 "Well, well," I said, looking down upon the bird 

 almost at my feet, " this is going to the other extreme 

 indeed ; now, the cats will have you," The desper- 

 ate little bird sat there day after day, looking like a 

 brown leaf pressed down in the short green grass. 

 As the weather grew hot, her position became very 

 trying. It was no longer a question of keeping the 

 eggs warm, but of keeping them from roasting. The 

 sun had no mercy on her, and she fairly panted in the 

 middle of the day. In such an emergency the male 

 robin has been known to perch above the sitting 

 female and shade her with his outstretched wings, 



