NESTLINGS OF FOREST AND MARSH 
is usual in shaping it. Every piece was wet 
when placed in position. At last, before I 
was aware of it, the little home was com- 
pleted, and one greenish-white egg scrawled 
with black lay therein. 
But now a strange spell came o’er the 
spirit of his dream. For no reason that I 
could discover or imagine, he deliberately 
built a second nest on top of the first, 
covering up the egg and completing the 
second structure exactly as if there were 
no family skeleton in the dungeon beneath. 
Was it a whim of Madam’s to have a 
house larger and more elaborate than her 
neighbors ? 
Fortunately for my observation he had 
chosen the edge of the marsh, either to have 
better air and sunlight, or for greater protec- 
tion from the marsh rats. Being in a posi- 
tion exposed to the full force of wind and 
wave, even the first nest had been made 
deeper than usual and woven closely around 
strong dry cat-tail stalks. 
Evidently the second-story apartment 
46 
