He was out of sight but a second, then up he scrambled, 
straddled between two slender branches, which swayed under . 
his small toes. Satisfied with his inspection of the motion- 
less boat, away he went toward the distant top of Mount 
Rainier so rapidly that eyes could scarcely follow his flight, 
which suddenly ended, a hundred feet away, in a bundle of 
yellow brown material. 
Fix your eyes on that spot and pole your boat through, 
or over, the bending rushes until you arrive at the entrance 
of a curious nest: a fluffy, feathery, spherical cradle, made _ 
of the downy hair of the seed pods of the cat-tail rushes, 
swinging a few feet above the water. Examine it closely 
and notice the open door, although the anxious owner will 
be urging you on your way. The perfect structure will be 
amazing, for how could slender, needle-like bills mat such 
~ material so firmly, and how give the globular shape? 
You may wish to penetrate the marsh a bit farther, 
perhaps, to solve the mystery of “pool-ka, pool-ka” that — 
sounds so near at hand, and you may find, not the American 
Coot the maker of these calls, but a whole colony of nests 
constructed on the same plan as the one you had just found. 
Books will be helpful later, for they will tell you that 
many species of wrens have a crazy habit of lengthening 
- the nest building season by making extra dwelling places. 
Whether this is done from an over-supply of the home-. 
wishing stimulus, for an excuse to remain near his mate, 
for a refuge in case of accident to his own nest, or from a_ 
desire to bewilder exploring enemies you may not decide. 
Now, however, instead of feeling wonder at this fact in 
books, you thrill over a new discovery, which you have made 
_ in the by-ways so near your city home. 
There are people who can find no joy in the pale haven 
grasses and the rolling treeless pastures of the inland — 
plateaus, while others rejoice in the open spaces and long — 
sunny days in an atmosphere that rivals the famed sky of 
Italy. The latter will find kindred spirits in the Canyon and 
55 
