110 WAKE-ROBIN 



and less than half a mile from the boundary, I have 

 counted the nests of five different species at one 

 time, and that without any very close scrutiny of 

 the foliage, while, in many acres of woodland half 

 a mile off, I searched in vain for a single nest. 

 Among the five, the nest that interested me most 

 was that of the blue grosbeak. Here this bird, 

 which, according to Audubon's observations in Lou- 

 isiana, is shy and recluse, affecting remote marshes 

 and the borders of large ponds of stagnant water, 

 had placed its nest in the lowest twig of the lowest 

 branch of a large sycamore, immediately over a 

 great thoroughfare, and so near the ground that a 

 person standing in a cart or sitting on a horse could 

 have reached it with his hand. The nest was com- 

 posed mainly of fragments of newspaper and stalks 

 of grass, and, though so low, was remarkably well 

 concealed by one of the peculiar clusters of twigs 

 and leaves which characterize this tree. The nest 

 contained young when I discovered it, and, though 

 the parent birds were much annoyed by my loiter- 

 ing about beneath the tree, they paid little atten- 

 tion to the stream of vehicles that was constantly 

 passing. It was a wonder to me when the birds 

 could have built it, for they are much shyer when 

 building than at other times. No doubt they 

 worked mostly in the morning, having the early 

 hours all to themselves. 



Another pair of blue grosbeaks built in a grave- 

 yard within the city limits. The nest was placed 

 in a low bush, and the male continued to sing at 



