8 THE WILSON BULLETIN— March, 1921 



fngous birds (the Noddy, AYood Duck and ii^olitary Saud- 

 piper) the inference might be that these species were re- 

 turning to a former habit, but it seems more reasonable to 

 think that they are governed by a stronger impulse, that 

 of the perpetuation of race in the face of persecution. 

 Many species of the Nidifugjie have been known to feed their 

 young directly, and some species of the Gulls, Ducks and 

 shore birds are cai)able of carrying or conducting tlieir 

 young safely to the ground. That it is not impossible for 

 nidifugous young to move about freely in an arboreal 

 nursery, is shown by Dr. Beebe in his recent study of the 

 Hoactzin, in which lie i)ictures the downy young climbing 

 about somewhat in the manner of a quadruped. "We have 

 little ground for the belief that the elevated nesting habit 

 is more fatal to nidifugous birds than ground-nesting; in 

 fact the death rate of the few arboreal Nidifuga? would ap- 

 pear not conspicuously different from the latter. 



On the other hand, brooding birds of species of more or 

 less typical arboreal habits, when directly from their nests, 

 will sometimes flush to tlie ground to feign a crippled con- 

 dition, and in so doing would seem to indicate a former 

 ground-nesting habit. There are a few ground-nesting 

 species in many groups of arboreal nesters, and there are 

 more or less instances where members of various arboreal 

 species of remote relationship easily form or resume a 

 ground-nesting habit (the ^[ourning Dove, Osprey, Long- 

 eared Owl, many species of t^parrows. Brown Tlirasher, 

 Hob in, and ])ossibly the Flicker) especially where con- 

 ditions are favorable and molestation at a minimum. 

 Isolated colonies of some of our Egrets and Herons have 

 apparently been ground-nesters for ages, Avhile other col- 

 onies of the same S])ecies nest high in trees. Some groups 

 as remote as the Sparrows and the Cormorants, I'elicans 

 and Man-o-war, nest indifferently in bushes or on the 

 ground. 



On tlie whole, a careful study of the nesting habits of 

 many species of North American birds, would seem at 

 least to indicate a much more general ground-nesting habit 

 at some former period and tliat a numl)er of s])ecies later 



