The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-07-09

roadside for a sing. He turns his little head
upward and MARBLES in the happiest man
ner imaginable an air that seems intend
ed especially for your ears. The lark and
the wood thrush are inseparaby assoclat-
ed in my mind with the hedge fence at The
roadside.
Go into the woods and fields and many
other birds too shy to venture near the
abode of man will be found.
Some one has said, in order to see the
extremes of wisdom and foolishness, TO
watch the birds building their nests. He
cautions US, though. to learn to be
thoughtful in bird matters, that he may
be able to discern what is wisdom and
what foolishness on the part of the bird
Early this spring an English sparrow
discovered a crevice in the corner of the
house, directly under the tin roof The
molding about the cornice had shrunk
making an opening not more than a half
inch wide and perhaps three inches long.
He evidently decided that the quarters
within were just to his taste for nest
ing place, for he al once began to carry
in straws, sticks and feathers.
The wisdom of the choice of this loca-
ton, SO far as safety was concerned, was
inquest toned. No cat could by the most
remote possibility ever reach the spot.
And the opening was so small that no
winged enemy larger than himself could
gam an entrance 10 the nest.
But the proprietor himself always had a
hard struggle to get in. He would aIight
on the roof immediate ly over the door 10
his home, and then would sometimes
make three or four attempts before he sue
ceeded in squeezing in. There was no
sort of projection beside or below the
hole on which he could perch. He had 70
cling to its sides and push with all his
strength to effect an entrance, often drop
min hTTil limo al
But he never seemed in the least daunt-
ed If he let fall a straw or a feather,
he flew down after it, and kept trying un-
til he finally carried it in.
How the parents managed 10 get the
young birds out I cannot imagine. but
they succeeded, by some means, in doing
so. But they abandoned the site after
Matching the one brood. They lived there
long enough, no doubt, to find out all
the disadvantages Of a fiat so inconve-
nient and inaccessible.
A pair of robins built one year unusu-
ally early in a large elm near my win
dow. The little birds appeared before the
leaves began to unfold, thus affording an
excellent opportunity for watching the pro- |
ceedings of the household. There were
many cold, rainy days, when one parent
had TO forage alone, while the other COW |
cred the shivering brood They showed |
lack of bird wisdom in building so early. |
But their joy and pride in their small |
family was so apparent that one could |
not really pity them. They would perch |
upon the side of the nest and gaze with |
love at the bare, ugly little
whose demands for bugs and !
worms were never satisfied.
Some birds, as the meadow lark, the
song sparrow and others, build on the
ground, in a small hollow or in a tuft or
grass. These nests are often found in
pastures where horses and cattle Craze
al about them. Why they ever remain
in this perilous situation, must
De because the eye that sees the sparrows
all watches over them.
For unqualified cheeriness and whole
ome joyfulness, l heartily recommend the
wren. Nobody but a chronic pessimist
ould grumble or fault-find with the merry
long of this brown-coated, pert-looking
title chap in his ears. And he is such a
loisy, pertinacious musician that he
makes himself heard when within hear
ng. He is very fond of human society,
'ften building near a path where there
3 much passing to and fro near his nest
| large-mouthed jug hung in a grape vine
,eside a much-used porch furnishes a
esting place for him every year.
The earth and air all about us is teem-
1g with life We, in the midst Of this
fe, are as ignorant of 1t as If we be-
onged to another planet Leave unno-