V. AN ORIOLE'S NEST. 



^.m4/ OW su^oestive it is, swinging there 



throuoh sunlitrht and shadow from the 



7^Tr'|7)A I long drooping tips of the old ehn 

 boushs ! And what a deliohtful cradle 

 for the 3'oung orioles, swayed all day 

 long by every breath of the summer breeze, 

 peeping through chinks as the world sweeps 

 by, watching with bright e}-es the bo)' below 

 who looks up in vain, or the mountain of hay that 

 brushes them in passing, and whistling cheerily, blow 

 high or low, with never a fear of falling ! The mother 

 bird must feel very comfortable about it as she goes 

 off caterpillar hunting, for no bird enemy can trouble 

 the little ones while she is gone. The black snake, 

 that horror of all low-nesting birds, will never climb 

 so high. The red squirrel — little wretch that he is, 

 to eat young birds when he has still a bushel of corn 

 and nuts in his old wall — cannot find a footing on 

 those delicate branches. Neither can the crow find 

 a resting place from which to steal the young ; and 



the hawk's legs are not long enough to reach down 



69 



