THE NEST DISCOVERED. 47 



breasted, as I found him to be, and the next 

 morning made a thorough search through the 

 swamp, looking into every bush and examining 

 every thicket. An hour or two of this hard 

 work satisfied me for the day, and I went home 

 warm and tired, followed to the very door by 

 the mocking voice, triumphing, as it seemed, in 

 my failure. 



The next day, however, fortune smiled upon 

 me ; I came upon a nest, not far above the 

 ground, among the stems of a clump of shrubs, 

 which exactly answered the description of the 

 one I sought. Careful not to lay a finger on it, I 

 slightly parted the branches above, and looked 

 in upon three pinkish-white eggs, small in size 

 and dainty as tinted pearls. Happy day, I 

 thought, and the forerunner of happy to-mor- 

 rows when I should watch 



" The green nest full of pleasant shade 

 Wherein three speckled eggs were laid," 



and see and delight in the family life centring 

 about it. 



To study a bird so shy required extraordinary 

 precautions ; I therefore sought, and found, a 

 post of observation a long way off, where I could 

 look through a natural vista among the shrubs, 

 and with my glass bring the bush and its pre- 

 cious contents into view. For greater seclusion 

 in my retreat, so that I should be as little con- 



