A Day with the Birds of a Hoosier Swamp 173 



See that bird flitting across the open space Hke a flame! 

 It is the American Redstart, one of the daintiest of our birds. 

 Here is its nest in, this small elm. It is only six feet above the 

 ground. By standing on this old log we can look down into 

 the nest without disturbing it. How beautifully fluflfy its 

 little nest of delicate fibres, moss and feathers is ! And how 

 delicately fine are the three little eggs it contains! 



A Maryland Yellow-throat flies scolding athwart our 

 course and hides in the clump of grass at the edge of the 

 marsh. From its excited scoldings we know its nest is there, 

 though we are not able to find it. 



In the thickets and hawthorns on the banks we find doves, 

 catbirds, brown thrashers, and yellow-breasted chats living 

 together and rearing their young in peace and contentment. 

 And with what a thrill of excitement and delight do we dis- 

 cover that this swamp is a breeding place of the Golden 

 Swamp Warbler, the most beautiful of all our summer birds. 

 We catch a glimpse of a bright-colored bird as it flies from 

 a hole in a small dead snag not far away and disappears in 

 a thicket neaxby. We have not long to wait, for ths little 

 bird, solicitous for its treasures which must be in the nest in 

 the old snag, soon returns. By short flights and with much 

 anxiety it approaches the nest, and we see it is the Golden 

 Swamp W^arbler. We learn that the nest contains five beau- 

 tiful fresh eggs, and later in the day w^e find several other 

 nests, none of which we molest. They are all in deserted 

 sapsucker holes, or similar holes, in small dead snags or 

 trees from four to ten feet up. 



In another part of the swamp we find several of these lit- 

 tle birds not yet mated. The pairing season is on, and the 

 birds are in active courtship. ]\Iany a combat between rival 

 males do we see. Near the center of the breeding ground 

 is an acre of comparatively open space, a pond in fact, cov- 

 ered with a thick growth of water-lilies. As we stand near 

 the edge of this pond a couple of males dart by us across the 

 open space, then circle about the pond, the one in close pur- 

 suit of the other. Often they cross and re-cross the open 



