THE BIRDS OF THE ADIRONDACKS. 45 



cornices of some building, usually a barn. These nests are built 

 of mud gathered by the birds from wet places on the ground, and 

 carried in their mouths to the sites chosen by them. Many of our 

 farmers have an unkind feeling for the barn swallows, as they think 

 the mud-daubed nests on the new red paint are not an artistic addi- 

 tion; but if our cattle could give an intelligent opinion they would 

 welcome the birds, for all swallows are entirely insectivorous, and 

 they must eat many flies and mosquitoes that otherwise would be 

 left to torment our animals. 



Birds that build in inaccessible places seem to rely upon that 

 for security, and apparently make little effort to conceal their 

 nests, while those building on or near the ground are generally 

 careful to hide them, and they display considerable cunning in 

 preventing discovery. Robins, for instance, after the young are 

 hatched, never drop the eggshells over the side of the nests to the 

 ground, where they would attract attention and cause one to look 

 directly overhead and thus find the nest, but take the broken shells 

 in their bills and carry them off, dropping them while flying. Fre- 

 quently birds are very shy and easily frightened away from their 

 nests, but after they are well established they sometimes show a 

 good deal of tenacity in staying by them until the young are ready 

 to leave. 



Some years ago we opened an old ore mine, where a pair of 

 phoebe birds had placed their nest on a shelf a few feet overhead, 

 a projecting rock protecting it from the flying stones of the blasts 

 that were fired several times a day, and the men were working so 

 near that they could almost touch it with their hands. These 

 birds did not desert their nests until the young were old enough to 

 leave. The site was not used the following year, as is usually the 

 case with the phoebe bird. 



No bird has insinuated himself into our affections more deeply 

 than the bluebird. He charms us as he flits through the air like 

 a painted arrow, reflecting the sunlight from the metallic luster 

 of his wings, while he pours out his inspired song " in notes as sweet 

 as angels' greetings when they meet." He comes to us before the 

 unfolding of the first bud of spring, sings to us until our hills and 

 mountains are covered with the richness of their summer verdure, 

 and stays with us until this verdure is changed to all the beauty of 

 its autumnal glory. I am very sorry, but I believe our bluebirds 

 are gradually though steadily decreasing in numbers. Some years 

 ago two pairs nested in our yard, one pair in a hole in an old apple 

 tree and one pair in a box, but for several years these nesting places 

 have been unoccupied, and I know of a number of other former 

 nesting places that have been vacant for years. 



