52 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



miles or more per minute. The doves, hawks, and even the snipes, 

 and many of the song birds are rapid fliers. A few of tliese are 

 known to draw on a vast scope of country for their food supply, and 

 it is not an uncommon occurrence for some of them to reacli a point 

 at least one hundred miles or more from their nests during a single 

 day's search. 



Although not directly in the line of greatest interest to the cultivator 

 of the soil, one of the most cliarming features in 'bird study is that 

 connected with their nest building and the rearing of their young. So 

 varied are the methods employed in nest Ijuilding, and later in caring 

 for the offspring among different birds, that the student never has 

 learned all that is to be known on this topic alone, even though he has 

 spent a lifetime in observing and remembering what he has seen. 

 From no nest at all, as we find the night-hawk providing for its eggs, 

 to the complicated structure made by the orioles, tailor bird, and allies, 

 all variations of nest building are to be found. The locations where 

 these structures are placed by their builders also vary much. 



Plumage, as we find it with different birds, also offers much food 

 for reflection. In the female and young it is usually modest, while 

 the males of some species at least are very gaudily attired. In some 

 it is protective, while with others it seems to be the reverse. 



The habits and peculiarities of most birds coincide with their sur- 

 roundings. The waders are long-legged, long-necked, and live about 

 the margins of streams and bodies of water and in the depths of 

 swamps. They are usually drowsy-appearing creatures, not especially 

 noted for their beauty of form nor melody of voice, nevertheless many 

 of them are gaily attired. The love-song of the Bittern is not of a 

 kind that would i)roduce within the reader poetical dreams. But to 

 these birds accustomed to the coarse croak of the bull-frog and roar 

 of alligators it is sweet music, no doubt. The soul-stirring, hair-lifting 

 hoots of the Great Horned Owl are songs which in all probability 

 produce reflective moods in these naturally wise-looking nocturnal 

 prowlers among the feathered tribe. The predaceous forms delight in 

 shrill, piercing cries, while the graminivorous ones habitually modulate 

 their voices. 



Aside from taking life very seriously, many birds seem to be imbuetl 

 at times with a spirit of fun. The Meadow Lark will sometimes start 

 out with a plaintive call, and after attracting its mate wmII go off into 



