BIRD HOMES 27 



manner as did its parents before it, although it has 

 never seen a nest built. 



Time of building. There is a regular time and 

 order in nest-building as there is in migration, 

 although the order is not exactly the same. In any 

 given locality certain kinds of birds begin to nest at 

 about the same time each year; in some species the 

 older birds beginning to nest before the younger 

 ones. Certain birds, like the robin and bluebird, are 

 always among the first to nest, and other birds, like 

 the cedar-bird and goldfinch, are always among the 

 last to nest, and this order of nesting remains the 

 same from year to year. In the northeastern United 

 States the first birds begin to nest in February (the 

 great horned owl), the last begin the latter part of 

 July (goldfinch), but May is preeminently the nest- 

 building month. Some birds, like the robin, blue- 

 bird, and house wren, rear two broods, and this 

 brings the nesting-season well along into the mid- 

 dle of the summer. The nesting-dates for a few 

 common birds are given in the table on pages 61 

 and 62. 



Location of nest. Nests are found in a great va- 

 riety of places. Many birds nest on the ground. 

 Some of these, such as the bob-white and bobolink, 

 build their nests in open fields. Others, such as the 

 ruffed grouse and hermit thrush, build their nests on 

 the ground in woods. The oven-bird builds an arched 

 nest with an entrance on one side. Some birds, such 



