SOME CLEVER WEAVERS 
“ Talking about Nature’s craftsmen,” ob¬ 
served Mabel, tossing aside her big sun hat and 
joining the porch group sociably with her em¬ 
broidery in hand, “ I have just been watching 
Madam Baltimore Oriole at work upon her 
swinging cradle. You know Tommy located the 
nest yesterday in the big elm by the garden gate. 
And surely nowhere is there a more clever artisan, 
not even excepting Arachne’s most talented de¬ 
scendants! Who would ever dream that a little 
bird could make such a home with her bill—slen¬ 
der and needle-like though it is? Why, there isn’t 
a man or a woman in the whole country who 
could do such a thing with only one tool! The 
nest is going to be a veritable triumph of weaver’s 
art. It looks like a miniature nose-bag such as 
teamsters use for their horses. It is made of 
plant fiber and carefully lined with down and 
wool. I saw her bringing wool from the pas¬ 
ture.” 
“ Where was Peter? ” interjected Max. 
“ Wasn’t he helping? ” 
“ Not unless we give him credit for supplying 
36 
