BIKDS'-NESTS. 113 



En apple-tree, the branches of which nibbod nir.iinst 

 the house. For a day or two before the first straw 

 was laid, I noticed the pair cartifully exj)loriii<r every 

 branch of the tree, tlie female taking the lead, the 

 male following her with an anxious note and hx)k. 

 It was evident that the wife was to have her clioice 

 this time ; and, like one who thoroughly knew her 

 mind, she was proceeding to take it. Finally the 

 site was chosen upon a high branch, extending over 

 one low wing of the house. Mutual congratuhitions 

 and caresses followed, when both birds flew away in 

 quest of building material. That most freely used ia 

 a sort of cotton-bearing plant, which grows in old 

 worn-out fields. The nest is large for the size of the 

 bird, and very soft. It is in every respect a first-class 

 domicile. 



On another occasion, while walking or rather saun 

 tering in the woods (for I have discovered that one 

 cannot run and read the book of nature), my atten- 

 tion was arrested by a dull hammering, evidently but 

 u few rods off. I said to myself, " Some one is build 

 in 5 a house." From what I had previously seen, I 

 inspected the builder to be a red-headed -woodpecker 

 in the top of a dead oak stub near by. Moving cau- 

 *ijusl^ in thai direction, I perceived a round hole, 

 about the size of that made by an inch-and-a half 

 auger, near the top of the decayed trunk, and the 

 white chips of the workman strewing the ground be- 

 Death. When but a few paces from the tree, my foot 

 pressed upon a dry twig, which gave forth a verj 



