52 Birds of Lakeside and Prairie 



jectors. This town-site is on the very summit of the ridge 

 which slopes down westward to the Skokie. Far off beyond 

 the stretches of coarse swamp-grass one sees, blue in the dis- 

 tance, the woods that skirt the river. From this spot it is 

 that sunsets may be seen having in them something of the 

 higher glories of color that are associated with the close 

 of day in the hill countries far removed from the level plains 

 of Illinois. The undergrowth is not uninhabited. There, 

 summer and winter, live the rabbits, a squirrel or two, the 

 red-headed and downy woodpeckers, the jay and the chicka- 

 dee, and the not infrequent quail. In summer this spot is 

 the haunt of the scarlet tanager, the catbird, the brown 

 thrasher, and the oriole. 



When I reached Hamilton's Woods on that winter's day, 

 I stopped to examine some bits of bird architecture; for 

 though man failed to build here, there are enough bird homes 

 in the patch to give evidence of its excellence as a dwelling 

 place. In a hazel-bush, not more than twenty feet from the 

 highroad, I found the deserted nest of a catbird. The July 

 previous I had watched the outgoing of the fledgeling family 

 from this little home. I had reached a point within five feet 

 of the nest when I was struck by the fact that it was moving. 

 There was a rustling of the dry oak leaves which formed its 

 base, and the twigs above were swaying in a way which pre- 

 cluded the possibility of the movement being the work of the 

 wind. Then through my mind flashed the thought of Dr. 

 Abbott's tales of winter catbirds in New Jersey, and of the 

 story I had heard of one of the birds which for a whole winter 

 did not go nearer the equator than South Chicago. Was it 

 possible that one of these gray, scolding, querulous creatures 

 was revisiting its summer home, and marking the exception 



