<^From Haunts of Coot and Hern" 119 



dren call "creepy" in the sound. Doves are abundant 

 throughout the Middle Western country, but how long they 

 will continue so is a question. Our wise legislators in many 

 states have been putting these birds on the game list so that 

 they may be shot and turned over to the cook. Before long 

 the wise ones will be planning an open season for humming- 

 birds and kinglets. 



The doves were out of sight, but hardly out of mind, when 

 my companion caught sight of a male bluebird sitting on a 

 stump about forty yards away. The stump had holes in it, 

 any one of which looked like an ideal place for a bluebird's 

 nest. Presently the female bluebird appeared. She took a 

 perch by the side of her husband. "In truth," we said, "the 

 birds have a nest in the stump." Then we looked at them 

 through our glasses and became more firmly convinced than 

 ever that the nest was just below them, for the glass revealed 

 the fact that Mrs. Bluebird had a fat grub in her bill. Soon, 

 however, she left her perch and flew to a tree about twenty 

 yards to our left. We said to ourselves, "Mrs. Bluebird saw 

 us looking at the stump and so she has left it for another 

 place in order to distract attention from her home." Then 

 it was that Father Bluebird also quitted the stump and took 

 a station near his spouse. Both birds were restless and 

 apparently anxious. They moved to another tree only a few 

 feet distant, evidently trying to make us forget all about the 

 stump and the little homestead that it held. 



We were standing close to a small birch tree. My left 

 hand was against its trunk while with my right I was using 

 the field-glass. I took my eyes off the bluebirds a moment 

 and saw that there was a hole in the birch-tree trunk within 

 an inch of my thumb. I called my companion's attention to 



