WOOD NOTES AND NEST HUNTING, I I / 



before she begins again the work of upholstering 

 her apartment. Now she seems half-assured that 

 all is right, and begins to peck here and there 

 around her nest, possibly to deposit a new supply 

 of saliva, and to see if the guys are well secured, 

 after which she commences a series of movements 

 curious to observe: turning around with out- 

 stretched wings and spreading tail, crouching low, 

 and seeming to press the new material into shape. 

 Looking at her actions for a brief space of time, 

 one would suppose that she could not accomplish, 

 with these movements, such a nice, delicate bit of 

 architecture ; but, as the blacksmith's light blows 

 on the shapeless mass of iron forms it into the 

 required shape, so every motion about her house- 

 building has been an effective one. How skillfully 

 she has incorporated into the bottom of the nest 

 some of the leaves and twigs of the branch on 

 which it is suspended, exhibiting a nice adroitness 

 in concealing her home from the view of the 

 passer-bj^ ! 



As she flies off and alights upon a lower limb 

 near by, eying me with an expression which is as 

 plain as words, — " What are you doing here ? 

 You have no right to molest me," I cannot allow 

 the opportunity to pass, notwithstanding her 



