ut the secret of the
nest is still kept. Once I think I have it. I catch a glimpse of a
bird which looks like the female, and near by, in a small hemlock
about eight feet from the ground, my eye detects a nest. But as I
come up under it, I can see daylight through it, and that it is
empty,--evidently only part finished, not lined or padded yet. Now if
the bird will only return and claim it, the point will be gained. But
we wait and watch in vain. The architect has knocked off to-day, and
we must come again, or continue our search.

While loitering about here we were much amused by three chipmunks, who
seemed to be engaged in some kind of game. It looked very much as if
they were playing tag. Round and round they would go, first one taking
the lead, then another, all good-natured and gleeful as schoolboys.
There is one thing about a chipmunk that is peculiar: he is never more
than one jump from home. Make a dive at him anywhere and in he goes. He
knows where the hole is, even when it is covered up with leaves. There
is no doubt, also, that he has his own sense of humor and fun, as what
squirrel has not? I have watched two red squirrels for a half hour
coursing through the large trees by the roadside where branches
interlocked, and engaged in a game of tag as obviously as two boys. As
soon as the pursuer had come up with the pursued, and actually touched
him, the palm was his, and away he would go, taxing his wits and his
speed to the utmost to elude his fellow.

Despairing of finding either of the nests of the two males, we pushed
on through the woods to try our luck elsewhere. Before long, just as we
were about to plunge down a hill into a dense, swampy part of the
woods, we discovered a pair of the birds we were in quest of. They had
food in their beaks, and, as we paused, showed great signs of alarm,
indicating that the nest was in the immediate vicinity. This was
enough. We would pause here and find this nest, anyhow. To make a sure
thing of it, we determined to watch the parent birds till we had wrung
from them their secret. So we doggedly crouched down and watched them,
and they watched us. It was diamond cut diamond. But as we felt
constrained in our movements, desiring, if possible, to keep so quiet
that the birds would, after a while, see in us only two harmless stumps
or prostrate logs, we had much the worst of it. The mosquitoes were
quite taken with our quiet, and knew us from logs and stumps in a
moment. N