INTRODUCTION. 13 



only species generally occupying the same nest year after year, 

 with the exception of the Duck Hawk (?) and Sparrow Hawk.* 

 I do not recaU many other birds who do so, with the marked 

 exception of the Swallows and Pewees, who sometimes rebuild 

 their old homes. 



§ N. All birds have an affection for some haunt, whither, if 

 left undisturbed, they return every spring. These haunts are 

 often extensive, enabling them to change their residence annu- 

 ally, until they are driven away. Catbirds frequently return 

 every year to the same thicket, and I have known the Red- 

 eyed Vireo to build her nest in the same tree where it was 

 built and robbed the year before. Likewise Pewees very often 

 choose successively two or three building-sites close to one 

 another. The less familiar species are not so attached to par- 

 ticular spots, but generally build their nests each summer in 

 the same tract of land (a Tree- warbler in the same woods, etc.). 

 Hawks (and occasionally even Crows) become attached to a 

 certain grove or pine wood, and build near the same place sev- 

 eral years in succession, sometimes though repeatedly robbed. 

 Woodpeckers (who always lay their eggs in holes) do not 

 usually, so far as my observations have extended, occupy the 

 same holes twice, but leave them to be used by Chickadees or 

 other birds.f Feelings of attachment are much stronger in 

 some species than in others, being often nearly extinct. They 

 are more marked in civilized districts, where there is less 

 range of country than in other parts of the State. Many 

 birds forsake their haunts, if disturbed, but apparently some- 

 times return after a long absence. The evidence of identical 

 birds returning to the same spot is very strong, particularly 

 in the case of individuals peculiarly marked. 



§ O. There are not many birds who, in a temperate cli- 

 mate, do not habitually raise a second brood, and there are 



* The Red-shonldered Hawk fre- t The Flicker (Colaptes auratus) is 



quently returns to the same nest. — an exception to this rule. At least it 

 W. B. frequently occupies the same hole for 



several successive seasons. — W. B. 



