identical bush. Then the birds
approached each other again and grew very confidential about another
locality some rods below. This puzzled us, and, seeing the whole
afternoon might be spent in this manner and the mystery unsolved, we
determined to change our tactics and institute a thorough search of the
locality. This procedure soon brought things to a crisis, for, as my
companion clambered over a log by a little hemlock, a few yards from
where we had been sitting, with a cry of alarm out sprang the young
birds from their nest in the hemlock, and, scampering and fluttering
over the leaves, disappeared in different directions. Instantly the
parent birds were on the scene in an agony of alarm. Their distress was
pitiful. They threw themselves on the ground at our very feet, and
fluttered, and cried, and trailed themselves before us, to draw us away
from the place, or distract our attention from the helpless young. I
shall not forget the male bird, how bright he looked, how sharp the
contrast as he trailed his painted plumage there on the dry leaves.
Apparently he was seriously disabled. He would start up as if exerting
every muscle to fly away, but no use; down he would come, with a
helpless, fluttering motion, before he had gone two yards, and
apparently you had only to go and pick him up. But before you could pick
him up, he had recovered somewhat and flown a little farther; and thus,
if you were tempted to follow him, you would soon find yourself some
distance from the scene of the nest, and both old and young well out of
your reach. The female bird was not less solicitous, and practiced the
same arts upon us to decoy us away, but her dull plumage rendered her
less noticeable. The male was clad in holiday attire, but his mate in an
every-day working-garb.

The nest was built in the fork of a little hemlock, about fifteen inches
from the ground, and was a thick, firm structure, composed of the finer
material of the woods, with a lining of very delicate roots or rootlets.
There were four young birds and one addled egg.

THE MARSH HAWK

A MARSH HAWK'S NEST, A YOUNG HAWK, AND A VISIT TO A QUAIL ON HER NEST

Most country boys, I fancy, know the marsh hawk. It is he you see flying
low over the fields, beating about bushes and marshes and dipping over
the fences, with his attention directed to the ground beneath him. He is
a cat on wings. He keeps so low that the birds and mice do not see him
till he is fairly up