THE CITY OF THE BIRDS. 85 



lifting her wings over her back and faintly pro- 

 testing " tow-he-c-c, tow-hc-c-e" after she is con- 

 cealed among the leaves. But as you move off 

 again she is instantly down to her eggs, as if they 

 were so many magnets. How closely she hugs 

 the nest ! Though you may be near her, it is not 

 until you have become quite used to the spot, that 

 you can distinguish the outlines of her brown 

 back from the shadows, the various moss tufts and 

 the leaves that surround her. Her long, dark tail, 

 perked up from the nest can readily be taken for 

 a dead twig, stuck at an angle in the ground. If 

 that whortleberry bush had eyes and ears what 

 interesting scenes it could witness, what curious 

 towhee talk it might hear! One is almost desir- 

 ous, at times, to take on the form of a rock or 

 bush or tree that he may learn all the secrets of 

 the birds about him. Where does the male sta- 

 tion himself at night } Does he feed his mate 

 while she sits .'' While gathering pieces of this 

 hair cap moss for lining material, how did she 

 manage to break the quite tenacious fibres from 

 the leafy stems.'' Did she rest at night on the 

 nest, before the incubating season } I would that 

 this enchanted shrub might communicate to me 

 the full history of the towhee couple, since they 

 first decided to locate their home under its 

 branches. 



The male now has various moods. Sometimes 



