118 



THE OOLOGIST 



that the old birds eat in one position, 

 usually with the front to the water. In 

 the case of the Ruffed Grouse and Bob- 

 White, the position occupied while on 

 the nest is invariably that which gives 

 the best view of the surroundings from 

 the more or less concealed retreat. 

 Who ever learned of a Grouse's nest 

 where the setting bird faced into a 

 brush pile, or toward the stump or 

 log? The arboreal sparrows, vireos, 

 and many other small birds usually sit 

 on horizontal limbs with the head from 

 the trunk, and when the nest is much 

 elevated the position is usually chosen 

 so that the sitter will face the prevail- 

 ing wind. Birds will nearly always, 

 whether on or off the nest, face the 

 wind; and if observations are taken it 

 will be found that nearly all setting 

 birds face in one direction, that is, 

 against the wind. 



Some birds are very particular in re- 

 gard to the privacy of their homes, and 

 this feature of retirement is often com- 

 mon to all the birds of a species. 

 Again, there are many species which 

 will receive visits and most any kind of 

 abuse and still remain constant to their 

 nest and eggs. I have caught a Blue- 

 bird in my hand as she sat on the eggs, 

 and then the eggs were regularly 

 hatched. Repeated instances are 

 known where the Golden-wing Wood- 

 pecker has been removed from the eggs 

 by hand, after which she would return 

 and lay again in the same nest. Noth- 

 ing seems to daunt this bird in her ef- 

 forts to occupy a cavity, and there are 

 many instances where as many as 

 twelve eggs have been laid, each egg 

 being taken on the day it was deposit- 

 ed. I have removed a Black-capped 

 Chickadee from her eggs in a hole, and 

 when she was released she at once flew 

 back in the cavity while I was within 

 two feet of the stump. These little tit- 

 mice are the most familiar, and per- 

 iaps all-around social creatures that I 



have met with in my trips among the 

 birds. 



Birds are not nearly as liable to de- 

 sert their nests as it is claimed, and 

 with a few exceptions the birds that I 

 have studied are very constant, not 

 only to their nests and eggs, but to a 

 locality, returning year after year. 

 Strangely enough, many species of the 

 wildest birds as the hawk and owl, will 

 submit to repeated visits and partial 

 abolitian and still continue to occupy 

 the nest. I have known instances where 

 a Red-tailed Hawk's nest has been 

 climbed to at least three or four times 

 during construction and the deposition 

 of the eggs, and yet the pair remained 

 and finally hatched their eggs. I have 

 changed eggs of the Spotted Sandpiper 

 and Killdeer in their nests; that is the 

 position, and the birds would rearrange 

 the clutch. One of our commonest 

 birds, the Chipping Sparrow, is much 

 given to resenting interference, and 

 will often leave its nest on the slightest 

 provocation, a habit I have often ob- 

 served. But again this little bird will 

 permit of the closest inspection, and it 

 is so often found nesting on the piazza 

 vines and plants that it has been called 

 the "porch sparrow" an excellent name 

 for this familiar little creature. The 

 vireos are very resentful of interfer- 

 ence, and some of the warblers are 

 much inclined to leave the nest if it is 

 touched or sometimes even looked at. 

 On the contrary, the swallows and the 

 familiar barn Phoebe are very persist- 

 ent in their allegiance, and will accept 

 most any impositions apparently with- 

 out complaint. That little yellow me- 

 teor, the Yellow Warbler, is much in- 

 clined to retirement, and will leave its 

 nest on the slightest molestation by 

 man. This is the more remarkable 

 when we find that the active fellow is 

 the most persistent of all the birds 

 against the encroachments of the cow- 

 bird, that insistent advocate of found- 

 ling's homes. It is a fact all birds are 



