IN THE CATSKILLS 



long before the youth had their secret. The tree, 

 which was low and wide-branching, and overrun 

 with lichens, appeared at a cursory glance to con- 

 tain not one dry or decayed limb. Yet there was 

 one a few feet long, in which, when my eyes were 

 piloted thither, I detected a small round orifice. 



As my weight began to shake the branches, the 

 consternation of both old and young was great. 

 The stump of a limb that held the nest was about 

 three inches thick, and at the bottom of the tunnel 

 was excavated quite to the bark. With my thumb 

 I broke in the thin wall, and the young, which 

 were full-fledged, looked out upon the world for the 

 first time. Presently one of them, with a signifi- 

 cant chirp, as much as to say, " It is time we were 

 out of this," began to climb up toward the proper 

 entrance. Placing himself in the hole, he looked 

 around without manifesting any surprise at the 

 grand scene that lay spread out before him. He 

 was taking his bearings, and determining how far he 

 could trust the power of his untried wings to take 

 him out of harm's way. After a moment's pause, 

 with a loud chirrup, he launched out and made 

 tolerable headway. The others rapidly followed. 

 Each one, as it started upward, from a sudden im- 

 pulse, contemptuously saluted the abandoned nest 

 with its excrement. 



Though generally regular in their habits and 

 instincts, yet the birds sometimes seem as whimsi- 

 130 



