NESTS AND NEST-BUILDING IN BIRDS 249 



the red-eyed vireo (see fig. 9) is limited to a much narrower 

 range ; its support must be a forked twig of not greater diameter 

 than a lead pencil, and this fork must be fairly stiff, horizontal 

 and of suitable angle; the various maples, whether as saplings 

 or as larger trees, and the witch hazel in less degree furnish these 

 conditions to perfection, while the pines seldom or never do; 

 the former are consequently chosen wherever food abounds. 

 The vertical height at which such a nest is placed is a matter of 

 secondary importance from the standpoint of the bird, within 

 the limits set by the ^^'hole trend of the habits of the species. 



A long series of experiments on moving the nests of birds 

 together with their supports, which are tabulated in an earlier 

 work alread}^ referred to (see note No. 6, p. 161 of part I), illus- 

 trates a slightly dift'erent phase of the question. For a brief 

 period the element of association appears to be sifted from the 

 instincts, when a bluebird or cedar waxwing will immediately 

 fly to the point in space formerly occupied by the nest, and 

 hover there fpr a moment, following the old course which habit 

 had marked out. This may be repeated several times and for 

 the space of twenty minutes more or less, or until the young 

 are heard or seen in their new position. When, however, these 

 young are once found and visited the old habit is quickly lost, 

 and a new one formed. 



Do birds in nesting seek the protection of man? To follow the 

 problem of position of the nest into another quarter, Nuttall " 

 has remarked that the robin, in order to secure protection from 

 its numerous enemies " has been known to build his nest within 

 a few yards of the blacksmith's anvil; and in Portsmouth, New 

 Hampshire, one was seen to employ for the same purpose the 

 stern timbers of an unfinished vessel, in which the carpenters 

 were constantly at work, the bird appearing by this adventurous 

 association as if conscious of the protection of so singular and 

 bold a situation." It is a pity to take all the poetry out of 

 such agreeable suggestions, but in most cases at least the tnith 

 certainly lies in another direction. 



Audubon " again speaks of finding a nest of the robin fastened 



"Nuttall, Thomas. Ornithology of Eastern North America, vol. 1. p. 200, 

 Boston, 1897. 



^^ Audubon, John James. Ornithological Biography, vol. ii, p. 192. Edinburgh. 

 1834. 



