22 BIRD PARADISE 



builders. In the old pastures near the swamp 

 the little mounds of these tireless workers may be 

 seen scattered over quite an extent of ground. 

 Two or three of these curious houses have been 

 erected in my orchard and I saw last evening 

 that one which I have known many years, located 

 in the farther part of the cemetery, had been 

 given a new story this spring. Somewhere in the 

 ground below, the work of excavation had gone 

 on, the earth being brought up by the ants in 

 small particles and added to the stature of the 

 house. Fifteen or twenty doors were wide open 

 and hundreds of the dwellers were going and 

 coming every moment. I used what diplomacy 

 I was possessed of in trying to fellowship with 

 my diminutive neighbors, but they were too busy 

 to make much response to my effort. I half 

 suspect that they work night and day when they 

 have anything to do and I am pretty sure they 

 always have something to do. Why not a school 

 of industry right under my eye ever proclaiming 

 "to him who works as well as waits all things 

 come." 



A friend brought me this morning a curiosity 

 in the construction of birds' nests. He found 



