THE BUILDING OF THE NEST. 



Flicker : Sassafras and hickory. 

 Hairy Woodpecker: Hickory. 

 Mourning Dove : White pines. 

 Quail : Under a thick, wild hedge. 

 Screech Owl : Hollow sassafras. 

 Barred Owl (only once) : In a sycamore. 

 Cedar-bird : Old cherry tree. 



You may add to these, as nests perfectly possible to 

 find, those of the birds of marshy-edged meadows, — the 

 Bobolink, Meadowlark, and the Ked-winged Blackbird; 

 the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, nesting in bushy pastures ; the 

 White-bellied Swallow of bird-boxes and hollow trees ; the 

 Bank Swallow, who burrows holes in railroad cuts, river 

 and other sand-banks, where you may also discover the 

 Kingfisher's home. In the river and creek marshes you 

 will find the torch-shaped nests of the Long-billed Marsh- 

 wren and the tussock nests of the Sharp-tailed Finch and 

 the Seaside Sparrow. In swampy woods you may discover 

 a heronry, or at least some single nests of the Green Heron, 

 or the familiar Black-crowned Night Heron ; and, perhaps, 

 in some great tree leaning over the water you will see the 

 huge platform-nest of the Osprey. The Marsh Hawks, 

 Least Bittern, and Marsh Owls choose similar locations, 

 and in the heart of the fresh-water marshes the Clapper 

 and Virginia Rails, the Spotted Sandpiper and Woodcock, 

 breed, though the latter more frequently nests in dry woods 

 near a swamp. 



Inland woods, especially if traversed by a stream, will 

 yield countless nests : on the ground, the Veery's, the Oven- 

 bird's hut, and the Ruffed Grouse's heap of leaves ; above, in 

 the trees, nests of the Blue Jay, Yellow-throated and War- 

 bling Vireo, and the White-breasted Nuthatch. In drier 

 woods the Blue- winged Warbler builds upon the ground; 

 and the Black-throated Green Warbler nests in the hem- 

 locks ; while in high rocky woods you will see the eggs of 

 the Whip-poor-will and Nighthawk, lying in depressions of 

 the ground, and with your glass discern the nests of Hawks 

 and Owls in the tree tops. 



o 17 



