154 BIRD PARADISE 



a prey to their many enemies. In nest building 

 this bird can scarcely be deemed much of a suc- 

 cess. Of course, they know what they want, and, 

 I suppose, secure it in the structure they build. 

 What seems to us a defect' may, after all, be an 

 excellence that the bird recognizes in full. I 

 am quite sure that these birds are profiting by 

 the law which protects them in most of the states. 

 A few years more and they will become as com- 

 mon as in the olden days. 



Just here I heard the song of the yellow warbler 

 — the first of the season. Glancing from the 

 window I saw a pair of the little fellows explor- 

 ing the tree directly in front. They were busy 

 securing what food they could and at the same 

 time intent on locating their summer cottage. 

 The female seemed the most in earnest in the mat- 

 ter, and I thought occasionally read a rather sharp 

 lecture to her companion. The warbler family is 

 a large one — some thirty and more species. They 

 are the perpetual motion contingent among our 

 great army of birds. Most of them T am sure 

 have no knowledge of what it means to sit still for 

 a moment in the daytime, at least I never have 

 seen them making any attempt in that direction. 



