he appears, with his tiny bill concealed 

 in a silvery puff of cotton from the wi 

 low catkins in the swamp ; next he 

 brings a wisp of long gray moss ; now 

 a curly flake of rich brown lichen, or a 

 jagged square of birch bark, all of which % 

 are laid against the nest, and half cov- %j 

 ered with films of cobweb. Once more 

 we see his tiny form among the haw- 

 thorn blossoms as he tugs a papery piece 

 of hornets' nest through the pink barri- 

 cade. This is arranged to hang beneath 

 as a pendant to their floating fabric, 

 | 1 and the happy little couple sit together y^&^^fF^ 

 " H upon a neighboring twig in twittering IjMmMstl T - 

 admiration. And well they may, 

 for a prettier nest than theirs ^g 



BUILDING THE NEST. 



