DESERTED HOMES. 165 



When I am at rest beneath my daisy quilt, it will 

 be for others to prove whether I have tried to walk 

 in the right road or not. 



To return to our subject of birds' homes. After 

 the broods or clutches have left their nest, as a 

 nest, they still use it as a resting-place by day 

 and as a sleeping - platform at night. From the 

 nature of the materials that the nest is constructed 

 of, it gets sodden with water, and sinks lower and 

 lower, until at last, in the shallower portions of 

 the mere, it ultimately rests on the bottom. To 

 remedy this, the old birds and their well -grown 

 young ones build the structure up with the whole 

 stems of that curious aquatic plant commonly 

 called mare's-tails. This is done very neatly and 

 expeditiously. The birds dive and nip the stems 

 at the root : no exertion is required beyond that 

 of diving, for the natural buoyancy of the coots' 

 bodies causes them to rise to the surface like great 

 corks — in fact the stem is, so to speak, levered 

 out of the soft mud by the simple act of nipping 

 the stem, and the birds rise with it. Naturally 

 there is much to be seen in clear water at times, 

 if you will but remember not to let your shadow 



