Seen and Lost. 



371 



could not, of course, have turned round in so narrow 

 a passage, and so always went in at one end and 

 left by the other. On visiting the spot on the 

 fourth day I found, to my intense chagrin, that the 

 delicate fabric had been broken and thi/own down 

 by some animal ; also, that the birds had utterly 



Small Spine-tail and Nest. 



vanished — for I sought them in vain, both there and 

 in every weedy and thistly spot in the neighbour- 

 hood. The bird without the nest had seemed a 

 useless thing to possess ; now, for all my pains, 1 

 had only a wisp of fine dry grass in my hand, and 

 no bird. The shy, modest little creature, dwelling 



B b 2 



