300 Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



and a half feet to fourteen feet. If these grounds were 

 submerged, of course the sites of the nests would be nearer 

 the water. If the stub or trunk inclines, the cavity is 

 always on the under side, this, however, being the work 

 of the downy woodpecker or the chickadee which exca- 

 vated the dwelling. Most of the nests I have examined 

 were in new, unused excavations, begun by the builders 

 in the preceding fall and completed during the winter 

 and early spring. They are nearly always in unsound 

 wood, 80 decayed that the surrounding parts can be easily 

 broken away with the fingers. 



Among most of the birds it seems to be understood that 

 the females are chiefly responsible for the construction of 

 the homes in which the broods are to be reared. Loving 

 and attentive as most of the males are in the mating time, 

 they seem to know that their domestic duties are of a higher 

 order than mere weaving and plastering. Indeed, can it 

 be that in their love concerns they evince such ardor and 

 persistence because they know that their part of the home- 

 building is to be music and easy dalliance instead of hum- 

 drum, prosy labor? Shame upon us to impute such a 

 motive to the earnest little lover of whom we are writing. 

 Though his mate must fetch the materials she wishes for 

 her mossy habitation, he shows his willingness to help by 

 flitting by her side now and then in her hurried trips, 

 and even attempting to gather fragments of moss or other 

 materials which please his fancy. When he does not 

 accompany her, he lingers about the site, perhaps to hold 

 possession from neighbors who are disposed to disregard 

 his prior claim; and when she returns with her slight 

 burden, he lovingly joins her near the doorway and 

 attends her with all possible gallantry. In every way he 

 gives her to understand that only deference to custom 

 prevents him from carrying her burdens, and that she 

 need give no thought to the ordinary supplies for the 

 table — he is amply able and willing to procure everything 

 desired in that line. 



Is it strange that we so intuitively associate elegance 

 and taste with the homes of birds of beautiful plumage and 

 refined manners? Who would fancy that a rustic bed 

 made from a wisp of dried grass is the ideal of the elegant 



