THE CROSS-BILL AND THE LITTLE WARBLER. 69 
saw it go into a thick cluster of leaves, and he 
noiselessly raised his gun, and took aim at the 
twig. When the smoke had cleared aAvay, he 
saw the twig whirling to the ground ; and 
pulling open the leaves, he spied the nest, 
so wrapped up and hidden, that it was diffi- 
cult, even then, to find it. The parent birds 
hovered over his head, and bewailed the loss 
of their home with such piteous cries, that he 
had not the heart to take their little ones away; 
but set them down unhurt upon a log, and con- 
tented himself with stealing only the nest. 
The warblers do not stay all the winter 
in the forest ; they are diiven out by the 
cold, and seek a warmer spot. But in the 
spring they come back again, and pass over 
the country in a little army. Sometimes 
they are stopped on their way by a return of 
cold weather ; and then they make a halt, ana 
wait patiently until it is gone. On such 
occasions, they may be seen flitting about in 
every gleam of sunshine ; and are so tame that 
many of them have been caught by the hand. 
As soon as the weather changes, they take 
wing again ; and continue their flight, until they 
are lost in the gloomy shades of the pine forest. 
