CHAPTER VI. 



THE NESTING SEASON.* 



If you would really know birds, you must study tliem 

 during nesting- time. At tins season they develop habits 

 that you will be surprised to learn they possess. The 

 humble owner of some insignificant call-note now fills the 

 role of a skilled musician. The graceful, leisurely Marsh 

 Hawk gives vent to his feelings in a series of aerial som- 

 ersaults over the meadows ; the sedate, dignified Wood- 

 cock tries to express his emotions by means of spiral evo- 

 lutions which carry him far above his usual haunts ; the 

 Night-Hawk dives earthward with needless recklessness ; 

 in fact, birds seem inspired by the joy of the season, and 

 all the brightness of a May morning is reflected in their 

 voices and actions. 



Mating over, there follow the marvels of nest-build- 

 ing with its combined evidences of instinct and intelli- 

 gence. In due time the young appear, and the bird, now 

 a parent, abandons the gay habits of the suitor, and de- 

 votes every waking moment to the care of its young. 



Time of Nesting. — With most birds the nesting season 

 is periodic and annual. With migratory birds it coin- 

 cides with the season of the year when their summer 

 homes are habitable. But we might suppose that the 



* Read In Nesting Time, Little Brothers of the Air, and other 

 works by Olive Thorne Miller. A-Birding on a Broncho, by Florence 

 A. Merriam (Houghton, MiiBin & Co.). 

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