UNDER SHADOW OF WACHUSETT 8 1 



a phoebe lived last year and another 

 female I found brooding on a nest in an 

 eye-beam under a wood shed. A few 

 song and Savannah sparrows sang in the 

 adjoining meadow where a flock of sheep 

 browsed, and a chipping sparrow's nest 

 was in the Virginia creeper on the piazza 

 railing. A least flycatcher guarded the 

 driveway trees. 

 I had seen one 

 lone clifl^ swal- 

 low near the 

 farm, and so 

 during a long 

 drive on the 

 lovely undulat- 

 i n g woodland 

 roads that 

 every now and 

 then bring one 

 suddenly out upon a deserted or tumble- 

 down farmhouse with its overshadowing 

 barn, I kept a look-out for their nests 

 under the eaves. Only one nest with a 

 brooding bird rewarded me, although I 

 passed a dozen or more such unpainted, 

 windowless, typical New England struc- 

 tures. 



6 



