A Domestic Tragedy 



i6i 



with bits of paper which he was using to adorn the exterior, and not until then 

 did I discover, for the first time, the female sitting on a higher branch nearby, 

 watching carefully so that no harm might befall the nest. Fearing I might be 

 attracting too much attention I left for the day. The following morning the 

 birds were nowhere in sight. My first impulse was to examine the nest more 

 closely and I ventured to do so. It was made of dead and withered grasses, a 

 few pine needles loosely arranged, and the pieces of wax paper all firmly inter- 

 woven. The whole, however, had a somewhat unfinished appearance. The next 



BLUE-HEADED VIREO AND NEST 



day I found the male bird twisting and turning himself in the nest, first this 

 way, then that way, until he secured what seemed to him a perfectly comfor- 

 table shape. A few moments later he departed only to return with a mouthful 

 of cobwebs with which he engaged himself about the edges of the nest. Very 

 shortly, however, all was completed, and with a satisfied chatter he flew to a 

 higher perch. Just then, however, the female reached the scene. Without 

 ceremony she thrust herself into the nest to pass her judgment upon it, and 

 woe and betide the masculine conceit. It proved far from satisfactory. She 

 flew to a higher perch and uttered a few low guttural tones as much as to say, 

 "Do you call this a perfect nest? I thought you knew how to build a better 

 nest than that. It certainly does not meet my approval. I refuse to live in it 

 until it is made satisfactory." The next day it had been perfected to suit her 

 whims and fancies for I found her on the nest when I arrived. I was very cu- 

 rious to know whether eggs were actually present. Another visit in the after- 



