The Kingbird 313 



wood bush had grown up from the mud and among the water-plants, perhaps 

 two hundred feet out from the lake-shore. It was a thin, dis- 

 couraged-looking bush, but it served well for a Kingbird's nest. The Nest 

 In this, three feet above the water, the rather bulky cradle had 

 been built. At a little distance it appeared to be only a streaming cluster of 

 long, gray moss, which might have been blown, during some gale, from a bare 

 branch of one of the scattered pine trees back on the shore. When one came 

 near, however, and looked inside, another sight was presented. There, in a 

 cup-shaped inclosure, lay as pretty a set of eggs as one might wish to see. They 

 were about an inch long, and perhaps three-fourths of an inch wide; and scat- 

 tered about over the white surface of the shells were many spots of brown in 

 various shades. The nest was Kned with little roots and grass, and the whole 

 structure was so compact and strong that there was little danger of its being 

 blown apart by the winds, or washed down in the spring rains. 



Kingbirds often show a preference for living near streams or lakes, but very 

 often are found far away from such places. This is true, particularly, in the 

 northern states, where we may meet with them in old apple orchards, along 

 highways, or in the neighborhood of farm-fences, beside which trees have 

 sprung up and been allowed to grow. 



Early one morning, last June, I was out watching for birds just after sun- 

 rise. A little girl, with sharper eyes than mine, was my companion. The air 

 was ringing with the song of a Veery, and a pair of Red-eyed 

 Vireos were calling repeatedly from the nearby trees. My Nest-Building 

 fellow-watcher was pointing out a Downy Woodpecker she had 

 discovered, when she caught sight of a Kingbird, the first she had ever seen. 

 It was flying slowly and somewhat laboriously, for in its bill it carried a strip 

 of cloth several inches long. A moment later, the bird settled among the 

 leaves and twigs growing on the horizontal limb of a scraggy, gnarled oak tree 

 just before us. Here it remained for two or three minutes, puUing and tugging 

 at the rag. After getting it placed to its satisfaction, it flew away. We had 

 discovered a Kingbird in the act of building its nest, and, so far as we could 

 discover, had actually seen it bring the very first piece of material with which 

 to make it. 



Day after day, in the early morning, we would slip out to see how the work 

 was progressing. The birds seemed to work at their nest-building, chiefly, in 

 the early morning; still, it must be confessed we did not watch very closely at 

 other times of the day, and the birds may have continued their efforts at var- 

 ious periods until the sun went down. In making the nest, the birds used old 

 weed-stalks, grass, pieces of paper, and rootlets; and it took them many days 

 to complete the task. Although it would have been easy to climb up to the 

 nest, we did not do so. The Uttle girl, who belongs to a Junior Audubon Society, 

 told me it was a rather bad practice for children to peep into every nest they 

 found, so we never learned how many eggs were laid in it. 



