„ a smaller bird, the male, glided up beside her. 

 Then I came on cautiously, watching to see 

 ^ookooskops what they would do. 



At the first crack of a twig both birds started 

 forward; the male slipped away; the female 

 dropped below the nest, and stood behind a 

 limb, just her face peering through a crotch 

 in my direction. Had I not known she was 

 there, I might have looked the tree over 

 twenty times without finding her. And 

 there she stayed hidden till I was halfway 

 up the tree. 



When I peered at last over the edge of 

 the nest, after a desperately hard climb, there 

 was a bundle of dark gray down in a little 

 hollow in the middle. It touched me at 

 the time that the little ones rested on a 

 feather bed pulled from the mother bird's own 

 breast. I brushed the down with my fingers. 

 Instantly two heads came up, fuzzy gray 

 heads, with black pointed beaks, and beautiful 

 hazel eyes, and a funny long pin-feather over 

 each ear, which made them look like little 

 wise clerks just waked up. When I touched 

 them again they staggered up and opened 



