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On the south side of one of the falls, that portion of the precipice which is bathed by the spray presents a series of little shelves and tablets caused by the development of planes of cleavage in the granite, and by the consequent fall of masses through the action of the water. "Now here," said I, "of all places, is the most charming spot for an Ouzel's nest."
But they wander far, crossing the cañons from grove to grove, and draw exceedingly angular and complicated courses. The Ouzel's nest is one of the most extraordinary pieces of bird architecture I ever saw, odd and novel in design, perfectly fresh and beautiful, and in every way worthy of the genius of the little builder.
While I thus lingered drifting with the bergs, in the midst of these gloomy forebodings and all the terrible glacial desolation and grandeur, I suddenly heard the well-known whir of an Ouzel's wings, and, looking up, saw my little comforter coming straight across the ice from the shore.
"Let her not touch you with her evil hands, lest she put her enchantments upon you." Old Elspeth smiled grimly, and showed the one lonely tooth that was in the front of her shrunken gums. "Heed not the child's silly fears," said she to Kenric, "and tell me, for what cause has she been weeping?" "It was a stoat that harried an ouzel's nest and slew the birds," replied Kenric.
But apart from the fact of its being situated where one acquainted with the lives of ouzels would fancy an Ouzel's nest ought to be, there was nothing in its appearance visible at first sight, to distinguish it from other bosses of rock-moss similarly situated with reference to perennial spray; and it was not until I had scrutinized it again and again, and had removed my shoes and stockings and crept along the face of the rock within eight or ten feet of it, that I could decide certainly whether it was a nest or a natural growth.
A great deal of material had been used, and the nest, projecting from the face of the rock as it did, looked large, and when I first caught sight of it I thought I might have hit upon an old Water Ouzel's nest. On getting close, however, I found it was only a Wren's, with young birds in it. I visited this nest several times, and saw the old bird feeding her young.
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