IDYLLS OF BIRD LIFE 
thread their way through the thickest tangles of cat tails and 
reed stalks, without making the slightest sound. 
After spending the better part of the night with the ma 
birds I left them, and returned home. I shall never fo 
ride. The moon had slipped down behind the trees on 
of the river and every now and then a silver beam shot across 
the stream as a rift in the dense foliage permitted it. Th e voices 
J/Il 
of the night were much in evidence. Across the riv&LXn the 
woods several screech owls were busy answering one 
while the frog chorus kept up unceasingly and the ni 
tried their best to entertain me through my seven 
back to town. 
Came a day about a week later, that I returned 
nest and found it empty. Very much disappointed at 
the mother and her brood I eagerly searched among the regds 
i. 
c 
for traces of them, but was completely baffled. The voung frf \ , 
1 ) ■ ' iS VT 
& 
the sora rail are precocious, and by this time they could 
i . . .. .0 
s from their former home. I hoped this was not the 
s I wanted to make a study of the young as they are 
nove 
d, especially to an observer who had nevef 
combing of the mafsh. 
