A Double Tragedy 



28s 



still until I came out of the tent and approached her closely, when she flew 

 directly off the nest to some tall weeds a few rods away. 



A week later she was sitting closely and refused to leave even when I came 

 within a few feet of her. Fearing lest she share the fate of her neighbor, I 

 had carefully concealed the nest, but this precaution proved of no avail, and 

 my hope of securing pictures of the young was never realized. On my next 

 visit the nest was deserted, eleven damp, cold, and slightly stained eggs were 

 inside, one broken shell lay a foot or two away, and many feathers about the 

 doorway told of a midnight tragedy for which some prowling feline that is 

 supposed to live on rats and mice and not on Grasshopper Sparrows and Quail, 

 is probably to be held responsible. Hawks do not fly at night, Owls are very 

 scarce in the vicinity; predatory mammals are also uncommon; so I am afraid 

 that the cat (of which the nearby village shelters many) must be held the 

 transgressor. 



'SHE CAME OUT AT ONCE AS IF TO RECOVER THE EGG SHE HAD DISPLACED" 



