186 LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY 



gone two yards, and apparently you had only to go 

 and pick him up. But before you could pick him 

 up, he had recovered somewhat and flown a little 

 farther; and thus, if you were tempted to follow 

 him, you would soon find yourself some distance 

 from the scene of the nest, and both old and young 

 well out of your reach. The female bird was not 

 less solicitous, and practiced the same arts upon us 

 to decoy us away, but her dull plumage rendered 

 her less noticeable. The male was clad in holiday 

 attire, but his mate in an every-day working-garb. 



The nest was built in the fork of a little hemlock, 

 about fifteen inches from the ground, and was a 

 thick, firm structure, composed of the finer material 

 of the woods, with a lining of very delicate roots 

 or rootlets. There were four young birds and one 

 addled egg. We found it in a locality about the 

 head- waters of the eastern branch of the Delaware, 

 where several other of the rarer species of warblers, 

 such as the mourning ground, the Blackburnian, 

 the chestnut-sided, and the speckled Canada, spend 

 the summer and rear their young. 



Defunct birds'-nests are easy to find; when the 

 leaves fall, then they are in every bush and tree; 

 and one wonders how he missed them; but a live 

 nest, how it eludes one! I have read of a noted 

 criminal who could hide himself pretty efi'ectually 

 in any room that contained the usual furniture; he 

 would embrace the support of a table so as to seem 

 part of it. The bird has studied the same art: it 

 always blends its nest with the surroundings, and 



