52 PIONEERS OF SPRING. 
there was trouble, which ended not till one 
sand-martin had been slain, one sparrow half- 
plucked, and the flock had departed north- 
wards. 
Far away in the warm heart of the fir wood, 
facing south, and basking in all the warm 
sunshine that there is, lies a soft sand-cliff, 
where in summer the sand-wasps love to 
drive their shafts. Here you may find, if you 
look, three neat, round tunnels, each about 
thirty-six inches long, and each with a tiny 
nest of feathers and grass at the end, wherein, 
in due time, if you do not disturb them, will 
rest five tiny, pure-white eggs of the brave, 
persevering, little sand-martins, 
