More persistent than any yet mentioned was a robin. Heretofore, strange
to say, the guests had all been males, but this caller was the mother of
a young brood in the next yard. She came in her usual way, alighted on a
low branch, ran out upon it, hopped to the next higher, and so proceeded
till she reached the nest. The kingbird happened to be near it himself,
and drove her away in an indifferent manner, as if this interloper were
of small account. The robin went, of course, but returned, and, perching
close to the object of interest, leaned over and looked at it as long as
she chose, while the owner stood calmly by on a twig and did not
interfere. I know he was not afraid of the robin, as later events
proved; and it really looked as if the pair deliberately delayed sitting
to give the neighborhood a chance to satisfy its curiosity; as if they
thus proclaimed to whom it might concern that there was to be a kingbird
household, that they might view it at their leisure before it was
occupied, but after that no guests were desired. Whatever the cause, the
fact is, that once completed, the nest was almost entirely abandoned by
the builders for several days, during which this neighborhood inspection
went on. They even deserted their usual hunting-ground, and might
generally be seen at the back of the house, awaiting their prey in the
most unconcerned manner.

However, time was passing, and one day Madame Tyrannis herself began to
call, but fitfully. Sometimes she stayed about the nest one minute,
sometimes five minutes, but was restless; picking at the walls,
twitching the leaves that hung too near, rearranging the lining, trying
it this way and that, as if to see how it fitted her figure, and how she
should like it when she was settled. First she tried sitting with face
looking toward the bay; then she jerked herself around, without rising,
and looked awhile toward the house. She had as much trouble to get
matters adjusted to her mind as if she had a houseful of furniture to
place, with carpets to lay, curtains to hang, and the thousand and one
"things" with which we bigger housekeepers cumber ourselves and make
life a burden. This spasmodic visitation went on for days, and finally
it was plain that sitting had begun. Still the birds of the vicinity
were interested callers, and I began to think that one kingbird would
not even protect his nest, far less justify his reputation by
tyrannizing over the feathered world. But wh