28 
LAND OF SUNSHINE. 
was she by .the iiew fabric that she lined the nest far above the rim, 
and rebuilt the outer to fit the inner. With the cotton web she min¬ 
gled bits of pampas feathers. 
Next in turn came the bushtit. The smallest of all the birds save 
the hummer ; this little tit showed us how she can form the largest 
nest of an3 r in comparison with the size of the builder. Tike the 
hummer, she used little of our material until ready for the lining. 
Then she lost her wits over the cotton. She pulled it to bits and 
looked to see it fly away in the wind. She thrust her head far into 
the snowy billow of it and covered herself. She flew with it drip¬ 
ping from her beak, and left a trail from branch to branch of the 
nearest tree. She snatched it from the linnet if this bird essayed to 
take a portion. She packed it into the bottom of her pocket nest far 
above the usual limits of the lining. She crept up and down the out¬ 
side and peeped in at the round doorwa) r with keenest satisfaction. 
She chatted about that cotton to her little gray lord, who also made 
hearty comments. But alas for the “ best laid schemes.” It was ab¬ 
sorbent cotton ! There came a March rain and blew directly in at 
the open door of that bushtit’s nest. In a few hours we knew it was 
Bushtit’s Nkst. 
