Notes from Field and Study 



207 



sound could come from so small a bird if 

 I had not seen him at it. 



After a time he disappeared, but soon 

 after returned with a fine beakful of food. 

 Evidently he was very an.xious that I 

 should not see him go to his nest, for he 

 dodged here, there, and everywhere, and 

 although it did not seem to me that I took 

 my eyes off him for a second, I suddenly 

 missed him and knew not where he had 

 gone. By dint of patience I found him 

 again, or rather his head and shoulders, 

 and as I particularly wanted to see his 

 wing-markings, I cautiously moved a 

 little nearer and found that he was sing- 

 ing while sitting on his nest. It was the 

 funniest thing to watch him. He would 

 half lift himself up and pour forth a joy- 

 ful burst of song, then snuggle down 

 almost out of sight, then raise himself up 

 to sing again, and so on, till Mrs. Vireo 

 came back to take his place. After allow- 

 ing himself a long rapturous song from a 

 high bough, he flew off in search of food 

 once more. 



The nest was a beautiful little thing, so 



neat and compact, semi-pensile from the 

 fork of a branch, about 12 feet from the 

 ground and well in sight. It was made of 

 bits of leaves, lichens and vegetable 

 fibers, and matched the surrounding 

 branches so well that although I knew 

 exactly where it was I often had trouble 

 to locate it on subsequent visits. — Hen- 

 rietta E. Delamare, Pasadena, Cal. 



A Practical Bird-Bath 



Anyone desiring an attractive bird- 

 bath in the garden may have it at very 

 little expense if the following directions 

 are carried out: Excavate a place in the 

 ground thirty-six inches in diameter and 

 2^4 inches deep in the center, with grad- 

 ual slope to the sides. Make a mortar, 

 using ten pounds of Portland cement, 

 three times the quantity of sand and 

 enough water to mix easily. Pour into 

 hollow, shape with trowel or the hand 

 until it covers smoothly the entire sur- 

 face. Dust lightly with dry cement and 

 let it stand for several days before filling 



A PRACTICAL BIRD-BATH 



