128 WOOD NOTES AND NEST HUNTING. 



bit of the surroundings had suddenly taken wings 

 and tail, so nicely does her color simulate the 

 rocks, dead leaves and trunks of trees. Close by 

 the foot of a chestnut-tree, and moulded between 

 the roots, that curve and twist above the ground, 

 is her nest, containing a good round dozen of drab- 

 buff eggs. To all appearances it is the cradle of a 

 sea-bright fowl, that, with wild instincts, had wan- 

 dered from the barnyard and stolen her nest in the 

 woods. How accurately placed are these dumb 

 quiescent chicks within the cavity! No human 

 hand could have packed them so nicely. They 

 must be thus arranged that not a single egg may 

 be left out in the cold while she is sitting. 



I cannot resist the temptation of once more 

 stealthily peeping in on her, while returning from 

 an afternoon ramble. There she is at the conse- 

 crated spot, and sacrificing at her altar. She is as 

 motionless as a " prepared specimen," and so snugly 

 crouched within the nest that nothing but her head, 

 a part of her breast, and her gray-banded tail, which 

 is bolt upright against the tree-trunk, can be seen 

 at the distance of a rod. 



What are her thoughts as she sits there through 

 the long days and nights ? Is it possible that she 

 sleeps amidst so many anxieties ? How the sun 



