to be constantly on
the alert to see her at all. The singer had another way, and by rising
behind a hickory-tree beyond the cedar managed to keep a screen of
branches between him and myself nearly every foot of the way. I could
see them both almost every time, but I could not always tell whether
they carried food. Now the bluebird, honest soul, always stops in plain
sight to rest, with his mouth full of dainties for his young brood, and
a robin will stand staring at one for two minutes with three or four
wriggling worms in his beak. It is quite a different affair in the
mocking-bird family, as is certainly natural, after the persecution it
has endured. No special fear of me was the cause,--it is a marked
peculiarity of the bird; and I think, with a little study, one could
learn to know exactly the moment the eggs hatch by the sudden silence
and wariness of both birds. Poor little creatures! a sympathetic friend
hates to add to the anxiety they suffer, and he cannot help a feeling of
reproach when the brave little head of the family alights on the fence,
and looks him straight in the eye, as if to demand why he is subjected
to all this annoyance. I had to console myself by thinking that I was
undoubtedly a providence to him; for I am certain that nothing but my
watching him so conspicuously that every negro within a mile saw me,
saved his family to him, so low and easy of access was the nest.

The day those nestlings were one week old they uttered their first cry.
It was not at all a "peep," but a cry, continued a few seconds; at
first only when food was offered to them, but as they increased in age
and strength more frequently. It was much like a high-pitched
"[=e]-[=e]-[=e]," and on the first day there was but one voice, which
grew rapidly stronger as the hours went by. The next day another and a
weaker cry joined the first, now grown assured and strong. But the music
of the father was hushed the moment the youngsters began; from that time
until they had left the nest, he sang not a note in my hearing. Perhaps
he was too busy, though he never seemed to work so hard as the robin or
oriole; but I think it was cautiousness, for the trouble of those
parents was painful to witness. They introduced a new sound among their
musical notes, a harsh squawk; neither dog nor negro could cross the
yard without being saluted with it. As for me, though I was meekness
itself, taking the most obscure position I could find, and remaining