54 PEARLS AND PEBBLES. 



of the greedy little ones, who seem ever to be crying 

 out, " Give, give," when they hear the approach of the 

 father or mother. 



Last summer our wrens raised three successive broods. 

 I do not think the number exceeded five little birds each_ 

 time. This year the time will not admit of an extra 

 hatch. 



The wrens usually linger with us till the end of 

 August, but some will stay into September if the 

 weather remains warm. Then they leave us to winter 

 in a milder climate westward or southward, crossing the 

 St. Lawrence or Niagara rivers guided by the same 

 power that led them hither. 



How little, after all, is our knowledge of the ways of 

 these wild creatures that come to us, we only guess from 

 whence. They steal so quietly among us. One day they 

 are seen building their temporary nests in our groves and 

 forests, in our garden bushes and orchards, in the shade 

 trees of our busiest streets, under the eaves of our houses 

 and even of our churches and sacred temples ; a few 

 brief weeks or months, and lo ! they disappear. Silently 

 they came; as silently they depart. Some, indeed, gather 

 together in social bands, but others steal away unseen ; 

 we know not how and when they go till we miss them, 

 to see them no more again till the spring of another 

 year. • : ^ 



While I am pondering over these mysteries, a pair 

 of gay summer yellow birds flash past me, evidently 



