34 BIRDS. 



I peeped in upon it, it was empty. The proud song 

 of the male had ceased from his accustomed tree, and 

 the pair were seen no more in that vicinity. 



The phcebe-bird is a wise architect, and perhaps 

 enjoys as great an immunity from danger, both in 

 its person and its nest, as any other bird. Its mod- 

 est, ashen-gray suit is the color of the rocks where it 

 builds, and the moss of which it makes such free use 

 gives to its nest the look of a natural growth or ao» 

 cretion. But when it comes into the barn or under 

 the shed to build, as it so frequently does, the moss is 

 rather out of place. Doubtless in time the bird will 

 take the hint, and when she builds in such places will 

 leave the moss out. I noted but two nests, the sum- 

 mer I am speaking of : one, in a barn, failed of issue, 

 on account of the rats, I suspect, though the little 

 owl may have been the depredator ; the other, in the 

 woods, sent forth three young. This latter nest was 

 most charmingly and ingeniously placed. I discov- 

 ered it while in quest of pond-lilies, in a long, deep, 

 level stretch of water in the woods. A large tree had 

 blown over at the edge of the water, and its dense mass 

 of up-turned roots, with the black, peaty soil filling 

 the interstices, was like the fragment of a wall several 

 feet high, rising from the edge of the languid current. 

 In a niche in this earthy wall, and visible and acces- 

 sible only from the water, a phcebe had built her nest 

 and reared her brood. I paddled my boat up and 

 came alongside prepared to take the family aboard. 

 The young, nearly ready to fly, were quite undisturbed 

 by my presence, having probably been assured that no 

 danger need be apprehended from that side. It was 

 not a likely place for minks, or they would not have 

 been so secure. 



