NES T~HUNTING. I O 7 



pore, but I felt amply repaid for my vigil. During 

 the first half-hour the parent birds ventured slyly to 

 feed their bantlings twice. Then I crept closer, 

 and waited an hour ; but the parent birds were too 

 shy to bring their-liungry nestlings a single mouth- 

 ful of food, choosing, it would seem, to let them suf- 

 fer hunger rather than take risk themselves. The 

 little things were almost famished, and behaved very 

 quaintly. Every rustle of the leaves in the wind 

 caused them to start up, crane out their necks, pry 

 open their mouths as wide as they could, waddle 

 awkwardly from side to side, and chirp for some- 

 thing to eat. How famished they were ! They 

 even seized one another's heads and tried to gulp 

 one another down. The spectacle was just a little 

 uncanny. 



But, dear me ! they were not as ignorant of the 

 ways of the world as you might suppose. When I 

 lightly tapped the stems of the bushes with my cane, 

 instead of leaping up and opening their mouths as 

 they were expected to do, they shrank down into 

 the bottom of the nest, discerning at once the dif- 

 ference between those strokes on the bush and their 

 parents' quiet approach or loving calL Something 

 must have put them on their guard, and instilled 

 feelings of fear into their palpitating bosoms. Per- 

 haps it was that shy personage, the mother herself; 

 for she would call admonishingly at intervals from 

 the woods, Ba-bie ! ba-bie ! putting a pathetic 

 accent on the second syllable. It was droll to see 



