124 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



would have put himself to any trouble 

 to secure the result. In addition, while 

 notes in the local paper have educated 

 the adults,' by having- the public school 

 classes in carpentry make the bird 

 houses, zeal for wild life protection has 

 been given a distinct "boost" among 

 the young. 



Here then, in states where the laws 

 make it possible, is an interesting and 

 worthy field of effort. To any organi- 

 zation disposed to attempt a like pro- 

 ject, the Andover Society offers freely 

 the results of its experience. — Address 

 E. T. Brewster, Andover, Mass. 



An Unusual Vireo's Nest. 



The accompanying photograph shows 

 the nest of a red-eyed vireo found in a 

 very unusual and beautiful location. It 

 is from Merrimac, N. H. and was 

 placed in the low branches of a young 

 white pine, where it was but a little 

 over two feet from the ground and 

 seemed well concealed among similar 

 :growth and scrub hardwoods near the 

 edge of an open pasture. 



This nest when first visited, on the 

 morning of the 29th of June, contained 

 naked young, apparently but a few days 



old. Thinking from its location in the 

 pine tree that it might be the nest of 

 the "blue-headed" rather than the red- 

 eyed species, I visited the place with 

 a jack-light about ten-thirty the follow- 

 ing night to positively identify the bird 

 upon the nest. By approaching care- 

 ful!}" with the light held out in front I 

 was enabled to get within two or three 

 feet of the nest without being noticed 

 by the brooding bird who was fast 

 asleep with her head buried under her 

 right wing. After studying her for 

 about a minute she suddenly awoke 

 with a startled look in her deep red 

 eyes and gazed intently at the light, 

 btit remained motionless. The com- 

 pactly woven nest of strips of bark and 

 fibre, decorated with bits of paper and 

 white birch bark lighted up beautifully 

 against the soft delicate green back- 

 groimdof pine needles and made a pretty 

 picture. Not wishing to disturb her fur- 

 ther I quietly withdrew, making an- 

 other visit the next morning and find- 

 ing her again on the nest. 



My next opportimity for visiting this 

 nest was on the tenth of July, when I 

 foimd it empty, with no traces of either 

 parents or young in the immediate 

 locality. It may have been possible that 

 the young birds had flown, though I 

 half suspect that a large black snake 

 Avhich I foimd lurking in the vicinity 

 ma}' have had something to do with 

 their disappearance. 



The English Starling. 



The U. S. Department of Agricid- 

 ture is making a wide-spread investi- 

 gation of the status of the English 

 starling, a bird recently introduced into 

 the United States, which has been con- 

 sidered by many an undesirable addi- 

 tion to our fainia. It is a bird which 

 has increased and spread rapidly and 

 seems able to hold its own against all 

 comers, and it is to be hoped, therefore, 

 that its beneficial traits will so far out- 

 weigh its injurious ones that this hand- 

 some bird may be welcome to remain 

 with us. Nobody wants a second 

 "English sparrow." 



A VIREO'S NEST IN A WHITE PINE 



I wish to express my appreciation of 

 The Guide to Nature. We have found 

 much of interest and have been greatly 

 aided in our efforts to become better ac- 

 quainted with nature. — Miss ]\Iatilda 

 Krebs, Johnstown, Pennsylvania. 



