[IRCD de IRC-Dev] jay abandons the settlements where he has been so familia

[Kingwood <obn...@th...>]

Is second call. She flew, fluttering and trailing on the ground, as if
hurt, hoping, of course, to attract us away from her nest. Seeing that
of no avail, however, which she quickly did, she retreated to a low
branch, threw back her head, and uttered a soft "chur-r-r," again and
again repeated, doubtless to her mate. But that personage did not make
his appearance, and we examined the nest. There were five eggs, white,
very thickly and evenly specked with fine dots of dark color. An end of
one that stuck up was plain white, perhaps the others were the same; we
did not inquire too closely, for what did we care for eggs, except as
the cradles of the future birds? Very soon we retired to our seat across
the court and became quiet, to wait for what might come. Suddenly, with
almost startling effect, "A bird broke forth and sung And trilled and
quavered and shook his throat." It was a new voice to us, loud and
clear, and the song, consisting of three clauses, sounded like
"Whit-e-ar! Whit-e-ar! Whit-e-ar!" then a pause, and the same repeated,
and so on indefinitely. It came nearer and still nearer, and in a moment
we saw the bird, a tiny creature, red-brown on the back, light
below--the image of the little sitter in the stump, as we remarked with
delight; we hoped he was her mate. He did not seem inclined to go to the
nest, but stayed on a twig of a dead branch which hung from a large tree
near by. While the stranger was pouring out his rhapsody, head thrown
back, tail hanging straight down, and wings slightly drooped, I noticed
a movement by the nest, and fixed my eyes upon that. The little dame had
stolen out of her place, and now began the ascent of the sapling which
started out one side of her small stump. Up the trunk she went with
perfect ease, running a few steps, and then pausing a moment before she
took the next half-do