152 A-BIRDING ON A BRONCO. 



seemed better suited to probing flower tubes than 

 making nests. But then, she made nests only in 

 spring, while she fed from flowers all the year 

 round, and so could afford to stretch her neck a 

 trifle one month for the sake of having a good 

 long fly spear during the other eleven. The pe- 

 culiar feature of her work was her quivering 

 motion in moulding. When her material was 

 placed she moulded her nest like a potter, twirl- 

 ing around against the sides, sometimes pressing 

 so hard she ruffled up the feathers of her breast. 

 She shaped her cup as if it were a piece of clay. 

 To round the outside, she would sit on the rim and 

 lean over, smoothing the sides with her bill, often 

 with the same peculiar tremulous motion. When 

 working on the outside, at times she almost lost 

 her balance, and fluttered to keep from falling. 

 To turn around in the nest, she lifted herself by 

 whirring her wings. 



When she found a bit of her green lichen about 

 to fall, she took the loose end in her bill and drew 

 it over the edge of the nest, fastening it securely 

 inside. She looked very wise and motherly as 

 she sat there at work, preparing a home for 

 her brood. After building rapidly she would 

 take a short rest on a twig in the sun, while 

 she plumed her feathers. She made nest-making 

 seem very pleasant work. 



One day, wanting to experiment, I put a hand- 

 ful of oak blossoms on the nest. They covered 



