IDYLLS OF BIRD LIFE 
\ 
across the field, returning to her duty. Ten more days, and 
/- 
she would be the proud mother of sixteen little downy chicks, 
as it generally takes twenty-four days to incubate the eggs, 
I was again treated to the wood thrush fecital on this oc- 
casion, but I continued on through the ](voods, as I had another 
nest to visit on this particular day and I wished to make obser- 
I 
rations before it grew too dark. 
On my next visit to the Bob W hite nest, neither parent 
bird being near, I made a close-up study of the eggs, however, 
not touching them, for if they are handled the nest will be de- 
serted at once. The eggs were very skillfully packed in, the 
pointed ends down, so as to save space and permit the hen bird 
to cover all the eggs, during the period of incubation. On this 
particular morning the sun was just creeping over the crest of a 
hill half 
\ 
a mile away, and flooding the fields with its beautiful 
golden rays. It was a sight for the gods to behold, and the soft 
\ 4 ' |■ '‘if 
summer air filled with the fragrance of unseen censors swung 
by the hand of Nature, fanned my cheeks. Somewhere in the 
*X ) ^ Vi / \(r 
woods a song sparrow, one of the very early risers, stirred about 
uneasily and finally burst into a rich riot of melody. Presently 
/ * j 
the other denizens of the woods began to stir about and in a 
short time the air, this amphitheatre of the open, was filled with 
s ' ■'•‘svv.r iSii'" ' • 
[ 73 ] 
m, 
