70 WILD LIFE AND THE CAMERA 



largely composed of strips of the paper hornet's 

 nest. These were held in place by numerous 

 threads of caterpillar silk and decorated with tufts 

 of white material, probably cocoons' or spiders' 

 nests. The entire structure was wonderfully 

 fashioned and was a good example of the extra- 

 ordinary skill of the little architects. While I was 

 examining all these exquisite details, my attention 

 was attracted by a bird-like sound in the thicket 

 near by. Was it the note of a young bird ? I waited 

 anxiously for a repetition of the sound. For a few 

 minutes all was quiet, only a wood-thrush sang its 

 rich, sad song, and in the distance a woodpecker 

 tapped the trunk of a dead tree. Then another 

 sound came from the undergrowth, only the faint 

 peep-peep of a young bird, but it delighted me, for 

 on a careful approach, among the leaves I discovered, 

 sitting there on the lower branch of the silky 

 cornel, one of the most beautiful young birds I 

 have ever met, fit indeed to have been cradled in 

 the marvellous nest I had been admiring, for it was 

 a young Red-eyed Vireo — twelve days old — the age 

 when its beauty is more conspicuous than at any 

 other period of its Ufe. 



There was no gaudy colouring to this httle ball 

 of fluff that it did not need. Nothing could 

 enhance the beauty of this softly coloured bird ; 

 almost might it be called a hvdng symphony in 

 grey, for the breast was very pale grey, pearly in 

 its extreme delicacy ; the head was of various 

 shades of soft grey, while the back was of a 

 delicate grey or olive-green that harmonised most 

 perfectly with the other subtle shades. 



