51 



BIRD MASONS. 



Certain of our wild birds are quite expert at handling, 

 and use quantities of mud in the formation of the cradles 

 for their eggs and young. Three good examples of such 

 birds are given in this chapter. The Robin and the Wood 

 Thrush^ the home lives of which are given in another chap- 

 ter, also use much mud for the foundations of their nests. 



Phoebe 



Early each spring, soon after the arrival, in New Eng- 

 land, of Bluebirds, Robins and Song Sparrows, friend 

 Phoebe puts in his appearance, — a welcome appearance be- 

 cause it means that very soon a vast, kaleidoscopic proces- 

 sion of birds will come trooping from the south. 



Phoebe is very often known as the "Bridge-Bird," not 

 the kind of "bridge" with which so many people of this day 

 are familiar, but the good, old-fashioned bridge that spans 

 a stream or gully. Such a bridge, with large logs for 

 stringers and planks for a surface, crosses a little brook 

 along which I like to wander. Each year, for as long a 

 time as any living person can remember, Phoebes have 

 nested under this. Of course, new nests are built each sea- 

 son, but they have usually been in the same spot, — above a 

 slight projection on the side of one of the logs. The nest 

 is gradually built up of pellets of mud, held together with 

 grasses and mosses. Sometimes the outside is almost wholly 

 of green moss, giving a most beautiful effect. The inside 

 of the structure may be lined either with grass or feathers. 

 The four or five eggs are a clear, creamy white usually with 

 no markings, although sometimes very faint specks will 

 show on the large end. 



Besides under bridges, Phoebes make their nests in 

 niches in cliffs, under sheds and barns, under overhanging 

 banks, among the stones of old cellar walls, in fact any- 



