ANIMAL BEHAVIOR, WITH EXAMPLES 



227 



to housekeeping. I recall having seen one of these birds 

 nesting as late as the middle of September. It was on the 

 tenth of the month that I made the first discovery of this nest, 

 and as I approached the nesting site, the mother bird flew to 

 a dead branch of an oak tree near at hand and watched me 

 attentively, incessantly changing her attitude. In the course 

 of five minutes she flew away, keeping rather low to the ground, 

 and giving out her characteristic call notes while flying. Here 

 she joined company with her mate, who was perched on the 



The Goldfinch giving forih hi.',- morning song. 



top of a thistle at the border of the woods. This was my 

 opportunity to examine the nest more closely. Their nest 

 was located about four and a half feet from the ground in a 

 small burr-oak tree, about six feet tall, growing in a slightly 

 elevated portion of a field. The tree referred to was provided 

 with dense foliage. The nest was placed in the depression 

 formed by a three-branched crotch, surrounded with many 

 leaves. In these surroundings the nest was perfectly secreted. 

 It was a neat, compact structure, composed of dried weed 

 fibres on the outside, and lined in the interior with soft whitish 

 plant down. In this beautifully protected bed I found, on 

 this first inspection, three bluish white eggs. I had tarried 



