274 Life and Immortality. 
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LONG-BILLED MARSH WRENS. 
Nest Placed Out of the Reach of Tides. 
the opening, and this was continued within, forming a thick 
bedding of the softest, fluffest nature, of which the most 
voluptuous sybarite might envy its fortunate possessor. 
But the little Golden-crowned Kinglet, a mere mite of flesh 
and feathers, but with a great deal of spirit, builds a much 
handsomer nest. It is the perfection of symmetry. Man 
could not make with all the applicances at his command any 
thing more nearly globular. But its beauty! It looks like 
a ball of green moss, the delicate patches of moss being so 
artfully arranged as to completely hide the dry stems of 
grasses that constitute the walls. No moss ever spread itself 
over the ground, or over a stump or tree-trunk, more evenly. 
When it is known that this Kinglet builds its nest among the 
slender feathered branches of the hemlock spruce, there is 
manifestly a reason for the fern-like tracery upon the exterior, 
