102 BIRD STORIES FROM BURROUGHS 



frame of mind. The gauntlet is no sooner thrown 

 down than it is again taken up by one or the 

 other, and in the course of fifteen or twenty 

 minutes they have three or four encounters, sep- 

 arating a little, then provoked to return again 

 like two cocks, till finally they withdraw beyond 

 hearing of each other, — both, no doubt, claim- 

 ing the victory. But the secret of the nest is 

 still kept. Once I think I have it. I catch a 

 glimpse of a bird which looks like the female, and 

 near by, in a small hemlock about eight feet from 

 the ground, my eye detects a nest. But as I come 

 up under it, I can see daylight through it, and 

 that it is empty, — evidently only partly finished, 

 not lined or padded yet. Now if the bird will 

 only return and claim it, the point will be gained. 

 But we wait and watch in vain. The architect 

 has knocked ofE to-day, and we must come again, 

 or continue our search. 



Despairing of finding either of the nests of 

 the two males, we pushed on through the woods 

 to try our luck elsewhere. Before long, just as 

 we were about to plunge down a hill into a dense, 

 swampy part of the woods, we discovered a pair 

 of the birds we were in quest of. They had food 

 in their beaks, and, as we paused, showed great 

 signs of alarm, indicating that the nest was in 

 the immediate vicinity. This was enough. We 



