MEMORIES OF A MAY MORNING. 53 



The first thing they do is to clear away the old rubbish 

 from last year's nest — a regular course of house-cleaning 

 — before the foundation of the new nest is laid. In the 

 work of building both labor. They are not selfish, my 

 dear little household pets, like some of the male birds, 

 which leave all the work of building and care of the 

 nurslings to the female, while they take their ease, eat- 

 ing and singing and enjoying themselves. 



The wrens arrive just before the first hatch of the 

 May-flies issue from their watery prison. It is with the 

 smaller ephemera, the two-oared flies, that they feed 

 their young. 



Is it not marvellous the instinct which impels these 

 little birds to return at the exact time of the year to 

 where the particular kind of nourishment required for 

 the little broods can only be obtained ? 



wondrous law, given by their Creator to each one 

 of His creatures, in accordance with His will and their 

 several needs ! , 



All day long, from sunrise to sunset, these birds are on 

 the wing, as soon as the little ones are hatched, going 

 and coming unweariedly, with a love for their offspring 

 that never tires. 



Listen to the song of greeting they give to the nest- 

 ling as they drop the fly into the open beak, having first 

 torn off its 'stiff gauzy wings. This is a constant habit, 

 and it is very dexterously done. In an instant the birds 

 are again on the wing, to supply the ceaseless cravings 



