IDYLLS OF BIRD LIFE 
of dawn began to brighten the western horizon, intent upon 
getting acquainted with the possessor of that sweet song I had 
heard'Othe night before. 
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I was well on my way of exploration before the rosy-hued 
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horizon-overtook me. After an hour’s steady walking I heard 
a faint “cheo! cheo! cheo!” sounding. I took my rifle, which I 
ith5$|PJy carried on such expeditions as this one, and strode 
Tjhickly into the thick line of trees that skirted the river. The 
stream, by the way, scarcely deserved the name of river, as it 
<s\ was not much more than a mere mud hole, and dry during half 
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i7 ytife year. At the present time it contained about four feet of 
lazily running water. The edge of the stream was a thickly- 
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matted mass of wild rose, blackberry bushes, and grape vines; 
atypical nesting location of the cardinal. I scrambled about, 
tearing my clothes on the sharp thorns of the bushes, scratching 
fir u o 
my face^nd hands, and once I sank ankle-deep into some mire 
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: caused by the rain. As I continued down the edge of the stream 
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peering into every bush that might contain a nest, a red s 
flashed over my head, and without warning a female ca 
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Sew past me down the stream. Looking up directly over 
heafd, I saw her nest, situated about six feet from the gro 
in a blooming dogwood, overgrown with wild grape vines, twigs 
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