. Nestlings of forest and marsh, by Irene Grosvenor Wheelock; . s very busy andvery silent, as became a widow with fourlittle ones to care for. How we longed tohelp her, only those who like to manageother peoples babies can understand. 249 YELLOW WARBLER Thy duty, winged flame of Spring,Is but to love and fly and sing. Lowell. AMONG the tangled wild-blackberryvines that grew on the edge of thedeep wood, a pair of yellow warblers madetheir pretty home. When I discovered it,there was just a bit of silver fibre all mattedtogether and laid loosely in the parting ofthe branches. Early in the mornin
. Nestlings of forest and marsh, by Irene Grosvenor Wheelock; . s very busy andvery silent, as became a widow with fourlittle ones to care for. How we longed tohelp her, only those who like to manageother peoples babies can understand. 249 YELLOW WARBLER Thy duty, winged flame of Spring,Is but to love and fly and sing. Lowell. AMONG the tangled wild-blackberryvines that grew on the edge of thedeep wood, a pair of yellow warblers madetheir pretty home. When I discovered it,there was just a bit of silver fibre all mattedtogether and laid loosely in the parting ofthe branches. Early in the morning andlate in the afternoon I watched it grow hourby hour, for during the middle of the daythe little workers rested in the cool depthof the wood. Both brought strips of theouter skin of the same silvery weed thatthe orioles use in their dainty cradles, andscratched it into the required fineness inmuch the same way, with feet and were nervous, fidgety little house-keepers, entirely absorbed in their work,and so oblivious of my presence that one of250. YELLOW WARBLER them alighted on my shoulder by mistake inher hurry to reach the nest over which I wasbending. She was surprised but not alarmed,and flew at once to her work when I withdrew. As in the case of all birds nests, the ma-terial brought was shaped to suit by a turningor wriggling of the little mother round andround in the chosen spot, tucking raggedends in, scratching other places out, untilit felt comfortable and looked smooth. Even with these wee builders there is muchindividuality, some of their nests being roundand trim with a nicely moulded edge, otherssimply twisted togetherand fastened so looselythat the least spreading of the branches bythe wind causes them to tip over. One littlenest that we found in a small broad-leavedsapling had two of the leaves fastened downover it in the weaving so as to form a com-plete shelter and protection from the little mother flew in at the side, and satwith her he
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1902
