NESTLINGS OF FOREST AND MARSH 
and rootlets. No paper or foreign sub- 
stance was woven into it, as is usual with 
his cousin the catbird. Here there were 
five long, light-colored eggs, rounding at 
both ends, and thickly covered with fine 
chocolate specks. The ground rose grad- 
ually from the bush on the side away 
from the lake, and there under a spread- 
ing oak I watched the mother brood and 
heard the father sing day after day. Not 
long, however, for one morning the bush 
was deserted. 
** No bird song echoed down the hill. 
The tangled bank below was still.” 
In the still small hours of the morning some 
enemy had devastated that pretty home, and 
only one egg, dropped in the scuffle, re- 
mained on the ground to tell the story. 
Nor am I ashamed to confess that tears of 
disappointment and of sympathy filled my 
eyes. 
Resolved to ascertain if possible whether 
the father bird had fallen a victim also, 
228 
