A NATURALIST ON THE PROWL. 
6 0 
Coppersmith will hammer away at a branch just over the 
door of your tent, caring nothing who sees her. She has 
only one enemy, the snake, and if it finds her house, 
neither cunning nor courage will avail anything. But 
birds that make their nests on the ground fear man above 
all things. There is a little kind of Robin, or Chat, a 
dapper little bird in black and white, which makes its neat 
nest under the shelter of a stone, or at the root of a bush. 
How often I have had a contest of patience with that bird 
and gone away beaten ! “ Oh ! ” it seemed to say, “ you 
want to find my nest, do you ? I haven’t one.” And, 
with a grasshopper in its mouth, it perched on a bush, 
jerking its tail pleasantly and saying tea in a tone which 
I knew was meant as a warning to its wife and little ones. 
In vain I sat and tried to look innocent till I was tired, 
or got up and seemed to walk away, looking over my 
shoulder as I w^ent. Still it sat and said tea. I got 
behind a bush and peeped cautiously through the leaves. 
It saw me and said tea. As soon as I was really away, it 
would fly straight to its little brood and comfort them 
with the grasshopper. Of all devices by wTich birds have 
sought to secure the safety of their little ones, I think 
the strangest and most ingenious is that of the Red 
