THE WARBLER FAMILY 117 



Carefully marking the place, I hastened towards 

 it, but scarcely had I taken half a dozen steps when 

 up she flew, and once more gave voice to the note 

 of alarm. Thinking that of course I should ex- 

 perience not the slightest difficulty in finding the 

 nest, for that there was one I felt convinced, I 

 went straight to the place from which she had 

 flown, but no nest was there — at least I could find 

 none — so once more I retired from the scene, this 

 time taking greater care to conceal my presence. 

 Evidently the warblers thought I had taken my 

 departure, for after a lapse of about ten minutes 

 one of them flew down and, alighting on a weed 

 stalk, carefully surveyed the surroundings ; things 

 seeming to her entire satisfaction, she made straight 

 for her nest, but it was not within several yards of 

 where she had tried to mislead me into believing 

 it was. This time, however, I waited to make 

 perfectly sure, and as she did not appear again I felt 

 there could be no doubt about it, so I approached 

 quietly, and much to my delight discovered my 

 cunning little friend (that was to be) sitting on her 

 carefully concealed nest. 



Not moving a muscle, she allowed me to examine 

 her minutely, and I wondered at her cleverness in 

 taking such advantage of the surroundings. The 

 nest was placed in a slight depression — whether 

 made by the bird or nature could not be known — 

 beneath the partly-exposed roots of a shrub. No 

 rain could possibly enter the nest, as the earth 

 formed a mound above and shed the water as it 

 trickled down the steep incUne. A more perfect pro- 

 tection could not have been devised. Not wishing 



