94 WAKE-ROBIN 
alight upon the nest, but, still suspecting all is not 
tight, quickly darts away again. Then they both 
together come, and after much peeping and spying 
about, and apparently much anxious consultation, 
cautiously proceed to work. In less than half an 
hour it would seem that wool enough has been 
brought to supply the whole family, real and pro- 
spective, with socks, if needles and fingers could be 
found fine enough to knit it up. In less than a 
week the female has begun to deposit her eggs, — 
four of them in as many days, — white tinged with 
purple, with black spots on the larger end. After 
two weeks of incubation the young are out. 
} Excepting the American goldfinch, this bird builds 
i later in the spring than any other, — its nest, in our 
northern climate, seldom being undertaken till July. 
As with the goldfinch, the reason is, probably, that 
suitable food for the young cannot be had at an 
earlier period. 
Like most of our common species, as the robin, 
sparrow, bluebird, pewee, wren, etc., this bird 
sometimes seeks wild, remote localities in which to 
rear its young; at others, takes up its abode near 
that of man. I knew a pair of cedar-birds, one 
season, to build in an apple-tree, the branches of 
which rubbed against the house. For a day or two 
before the first straw was laid, I noticed the pair 
carefully exploring every branch of the tree, the 
female taking the lead, the male following her with 
an anxious note and look. Jt was evident that the 
wife was to have her choice this time; and, like 
