The Beginning of Housekeeping and Where 

 to Look For the Nests 



By Clara Kern Bayliss 



Toward lualing time in the spring' male birds assume their most striking 

 garb and most charming song, and "show otT" in many ways before the females. 

 I'hc I'Hcker, being a poor singer lint a great drummer, tatoos his love call on the 

 metal cap of a chinuiey or any sounding-board he can find. The Partridge struts 

 on a log. inflates his body for a drum, and beats it with his wings. The Blue Jay 

 bounces himself up and down on a limb and cries "Tee-dlc-dum, A-tec-dlc-dum." 

 ( )ther birds who arc not gifted musicians have very singular and surprising ways 

 of charming their mates. The dignified Woodcock and the quiet little Horned 

 Lark take a honeymoon journey alone, flying up and up in a spiral and then 

 plunging headlong down. Sandhill cranes dance a minuet. Ostriches tread a 

 stately measure and end in a mad whirl which makes them so dizzy that they 

 fall to the ground and sometimes break their legs. 



Some males help to build the nests ; some help incubate ; while others merely 

 sit by and sing. Wrens and Shrikes decorate the rim of the nest and conceal the 

 young with upright, in curving feathers. Hummingbirds ornament with lichens 

 and mosses. The Blue Grosbeak uses pieces of snakeskin. Robins, Orioles, and 

 some Flycatchers will use yarns and cloth. The fly-catching Chebec "irons" the 

 outside of its nest by standing inside and rubbing the outside with its head, first 

 one side and then the other, like the stropping of a razor. 



Some flesh-eating birds, as Hawks and Owls, begin nests in February and 

 March; but in central Illinois few kinds begin housekeeping before the first of 

 April. We have three records of Robins that have deposited their eggs by the 

 18th of April. On May 5th, 1915, in Macomb, three full grown Robins left the 

 nest in which the clutch must have been complete by April 9th. The latest date 

 on which we have seen a Robin brooding was August 4th, 1900. The Flicker, 

 Meadow Lark, Cardinal Blue Jay. Bronze Grackle, Mourning Dove, Phoebe, Blue- 

 bird and Tufted Titmouse nest by the middle of April. The Brown Thrasher, 

 Catbird, Towhee and Rose-breasted Grosbeak build about the first of May. The 

 Yellow Warbler and Cedar Waxwing prefer June, the Cuckoo nests in July; 

 while the Goldfinch comes last of all, in September. From the middle of May to 

 the middle of June there are more "going" nests than at any other time. 



On ground near lakes: Loon, White Pelican, Cormorant, Herring Gull, Mal- 

 lard Duck, Kildeer. 



On ground in icoods: Whipporwill. Mourning Dove, Quail. Woodcock, 

 Xighthawk, Song Sparrow, Wilson Thrush or X'eery, Hermit Thrush, and many 

 of the Warblers. 



On ground in fields: Meadow Lark, Quail, Thrasher occasionally. Teal, 

 Wild Goose, Grouse, Prairie Chicken, Horned Lark, Vesper, Tree, Field, Grass- 

 hopper and other Sparrows, Junco, Oven Bird, Maryland Yellow-throat, and 

 Dickcissel. 



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