A PUZZLE IN BIRDS 



bough and I bent it down and tied it so that the nest 

 was on a level with my camera on the fully extended 

 tripod. When I came, sometimes the male was on, 

 but more often the female. He would not let me walk 

 up with the camera, but she allowed me to do so and 

 even to work on her within a yard, if I moved slowly 

 and kept very quiet. 



Still another interesting and striking species is the 

 Indigo-bird, or Indigo Bunting. It is a small species, 

 of sparrow size, the male of which is of a rich dark 

 blue color all over, very gaudy and conspicuous. One 

 would not suppose that the dull brownish female could 

 be any near relative of his. They are fond of bushy 

 pastures and the neat nest is suspended in a thicket or 

 brier patch. One that I found was beautifully lined 

 with black horse-hair. Another was discovered through 

 the anxiety of the male that I should not find it. I was 

 passing through some scrub and brier thicket one hot 

 day in June, looking for nests to photograph. Sud- 

 denly this male Indigo-bird appeared on a poplar tree 

 near by and began to advise me in his language that 

 the best thing I could do was to get right straight out. 

 Instead of doing this, I began to look about all the 

 more sharply and soon I found his nest, nearly com- 

 pleted, close to where I had just passed. Later it held 

 three bluish-white eggs. I photographed them, but 

 could not catch either of the birds with the lens, though 

 I hid the camera quite well in a clump of bushes near 

 by, covering it with foliage. 



174 



