and at a height of from eight to fifty 

 feet above the ground. The nests, 

 though shallow, are cup-shaped and 

 form a quite perfect segment of a 

 sphere. Fine dried grasses, rootlets, 

 mosses, linchens and fine strips of b'ark 

 fibers are used in the construction. The 

 exposed sides of the walls are beauti- 

 fully coated with mosses and lichens 

 which are fastened by spider's webs. 

 The birds usually select branches, eith- 

 er dead or living, which are lichen 

 or moss covered. The nests resemble 

 knots, or protuberances upon the 

 limbs which are covered with lichens 

 and are thus hard to find unless the 



birds are seen to approach them. After 

 the completion of the nesting season 

 the Pewees are less solitary in their 

 habits and often several may be ob- 

 served in the same portion of the 

 woods, busily catching their insect-food. 

 The Wood Pewees, like all the other 

 members of the Flycatcher family, are 

 experts in the catching of insects, for 

 even those which are exceedingly mi- 

 nute do not escape them. Their power 

 of sight is most perfect as they read- 

 ily perceive insect forms when the light 

 of day has nearly departed or in the 

 very gloomy light of our deeper woods. 



WHAT THE APPLE SAID, 



Elsie was lying in the hammock 

 under the big apple tree, watching the 

 yellow pippin just above her, when sud- 

 denly the Pippin began to talk. This 

 was a strange thing for an apple to do, 

 but there seemed to be no mistake 

 about it. 



"Eat me. Please eat me," it said 

 quite plainly. 



"Eat you!" repeated Elsie. "Do you 

 wish to be eaten really?" 



"Of course I do. Don't you suppose 

 my babies ever want to get out? You 

 were ready enough to eat us last sum- 

 mer, when we were green." 



"I only ate two of you, and I had a 

 dreadful pain afterwards." 



"I am glad you had," answered the 

 Apple. "You deserved it. I suppose 

 that sounds unkind," it went on, in a 

 milder tone, as Elsie showed her dis- 

 pleasure, "but some people try one's 

 temper so. Those apples had packed 

 their babies away, as carefully as pos- 

 sible, and you spoiled all their work by 

 letting their babies out too soon. They 

 asked you not to eat them, too." 



"Asked me not to eat them!" repeat- 

 ed the astonished Elsie. "Why they 

 never said a word. You are the first 

 apple I ever heard talk, and I don't 

 know what you mean by an apple's 

 babies either." 



"I mean their seeds. Goosey. Of 



course the apples did not ask you in 

 words, but they did taste as sour as 

 they could, and they puckered up your 

 mouth. That plainly meant they were 

 too green to eat. Then as that did not 

 stop you, they had to give you pain, 

 so you wouldn't eat more another time. 

 How are apple babies to grow up, and 

 do their work if you treat them that 

 way?" 



"Do apples work?" asked Elsie. 



"Certainly. Everything in the world 

 has some work to do, or it would not 

 be here. Some people are blind to the 

 wonderful things happening around 

 them. The whole earth is a beautiful 

 fairy tale if you only knew how to read 

 it. Perhaps Pd better tell you my story. 

 That may teach you something." 



"Oh, please do," begged Elsie. "It 

 is' unusual I know." 



"On the contrary, it is quite like 

 any other apple's," the Pippin an- 

 swered. "All of us were flowers once, 

 you know." 



"Really?" asked Elsie, "but I remem- 

 ber now," she added with a bright 

 smile. "This tree was just covered 

 with blossoms last May, and they 

 smelled so sweet. Do you mean that 

 one of them really turned into you?" 



"That is just about what happened," 

 answered the Apple, with a proud air. 

 "Now, I don't believe you ever exam- 



VS'2 



