The next morning our first thought was of the veery's nest, and on
starting out for the day we turned in that direction. Alas! the old
story! The nest was overturned and thrown out of place, the leaves were
trampled; there had evidently been a struggle of some kind. No birds, no
eggs, not a bit of broken shell--nothing was left, except one dark brown
spotted feather from a large bird, whether hawk or owl I shall never
know, for neglecting to take it at the moment, it was gone when I
thought of it as a witness.
Again the old longing for a nest assailed me; but I was not without
hope, for I had my hint. I had found out what sort of places the
veeries in this neighborhood liked. After that I never went into the
woods, on whatever errand bent, but I kept my eyes open for the chosen
situation. I examined dozens of promising spots, and I found nests that
had been used, which proved that I was on the right track, and kept up
my courage.
It was several days before another tawny-thrush cradle in use gladdened
our eyes, and this was in a wild part of the woods where we seldom went.
We were drawn there by the song of a tiny warbler, whose nest my friend
desired to find, since it was rare; and in passing a thicket of maple
saplings three feet high, she discovered a nest. She quickly parted the
leaves and looked in; three young birds opened their mouths for food.
"Veeries!" she exclaimed, in surprise. "What a strange place!"
This little home rested on a bare dead stick that had fallen and lodged
in a living branch, and the dead leaves used by veeries in their
building made it conspicuous, when the eyes happened to fall upon it;
but it was so well concealed by living branches that one might pass
fifty times and not see it. I describe this location, for it was very
unusual.
We looked at the birdlings; we walked on till we came to the place where
we turned from the path to see the warbler's little domicile. My friend
passed along. I lingered a moment, for it was a lovely spot, attractive
to birds as to bird-lovers, and high up in the air on the upturned roots
of a fallen tree
"an elder or two
Foamed over with blossoms white as spray."
While I stood there admiring the brave little bush that kept on living
and blooming, though lifted into an unnatural position by the tree at
whose feet it had grown, some mysterious drawing made me look closely at
a spot beside the road which we had passed many times without special
notice. There I found our third veery nest, the mother bird sitting.