NEST BUILDING 301 



and one half inches high and three inches in diam- 

 eter — and found it contained the nest of a bird. I 

 thought it had been placed there by some member 

 of my family tor a joke. I thought possibly my 

 driver had found it and put it where he thought 

 I should be sure to notice it; but most of all, I 

 thought it looked so dainty, so fresh, so fitted to its 

 place that, although I knew the can was half full 

 of fresh grub and living angle worms, I stood it 

 back on the seat where I found it. Inquiry elicited 

 the fact that no member of my family knew any- 

 thing about it. The next day, the cook, fishing 

 from the dock, reported that she saw one of the 

 prettiest little yellow birds she ever had seen enter 

 the can. I went to see, flushed a prothonotary 

 warbler, and found an egg. The next day she 

 failed to deposit an egg; the following three consecu- 

 tive days she filled out the clutch, then brooded, 

 and reared her young, which all left the dock safely. 

 All the time, the bait can stood on a seat running 

 along one side of the dock. Many birds bring off 

 broods from the most unwisely chosen locations. 

 Every year I see nests destroyed in large numbers 

 through the injudicious site selected by the builders. 

 On the other hand, nests can be found adroitly 

 placed in such secure positions that the only way 

 one ever finds them is by stumbling over them. 

 I have known many birds that brought off full 

 broods in trampled pastures, by locating under the 

 base leaves of big pasture thistles, under logs, 



