But ere I could reach the prison house And let its sweet captive free, She was gone like a yellow flash of light, To her home in a distant tree. "Poor birdie," I thought, "you shall surely go, When mamma comes back again;" For it hurt me so that so small a thing Should suffer so much of pain. And back in a moment she came again And close to her darling's side With a bitter-sweet drop of honey dew, Which she dropped in its mouth so wide. Then away, with a strange wild mournful note Of sorrow, which seemed to say "Goodbye, my darling, my birdie dear, Goodbye for many a day." A quick wild flutter of tiny wings, A faint low chirp of pain, A throb of the little aching heart And birdie was free again. Oh sorrowful anguished mother-heart, 'Twas all that she could do, She had set it free from a captive's life In the only way she knew. Poor little birdie! it never will fly On tiny and tireless wing. Through the pearly blue of the summer sky, Or sing the sweet songs of spring. And I think, little dears, if you had seen The same sad sorrowful sight, You never would cage a free wild bird To suffer a captive's plight. --MARY MORRISON. [Illustration: From col. F. M. Woodruff. WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH. Copyrighted by Nature Study Pub. Co., 1897, Chicago.] THE WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH. Nearly every one readily recognizes this species as it runs up and down and around the branches and trunks of trees in search of insect food, now and then uttering its curious _Quauk, quauk, quauk_. The White-breasted Nuthatch is often improperly called "Sapsucker," a name commonly applied to the Downy Woodpecker and others. It is a common breeding bird and usually begins nesting early in April, and two broods are frequently reared in a season. For its nesting place it usually selects the decayed trunk of a tree or stub, ranging all the way from two to sixty feet above the ground. The entrance may be a knot hole, a small opening, or a small round hole with a larger cavity at the end of it. Often the old excavation of the Downy Woodpecker is made use of. Chicken feathers, hair, and a few dry leaves loosely thrown together compose the nest. This Nuthatch is abundant throughout the State of Illinois, and is a permanent resident everywhere except perhaps of the extreme northern counties. It seems to migrate in spring and return in autumn, but, in reality, as is well known, only retreats to the woodlands to breed, emerging again when the food supply grows scant in the autumn.