Tue PerRcHING BirDs. 107 
proper regard for another’s feelings you will retire. 
There is not a vestige of reason, at this late day, why 
any one should rob a bird’s nest. 
In the summer of 1893 I had a curious experi- 
-ence with a male chewink. I was on a legitimate 
errand in a tangled swamp, when suddenly a chewink 
appeared directly above me, scolding vehemently. I 
went about my business, and having gathered the 
plants that I was after, walked a full eighth of a mile 
to a grassy bank among old oaks to take a deliberate, 
long-drawn-out nooning. The bird followed me, and 
when I laid down and attempted to take a nap, came 
very closely and chirped che-wink into my ears so 
that sleep was impossible. I remained in the one 
spot from I p.M. to 2.30 p.M., and then started for 
home, the bird still there, but showing no dispo- 
sition to still remain in my company. I never 
knew what was the trouble, but think it probable I 
had stepped upon its nest while botanizing in the 
swamp. 
I have often wondered if any one was so indifferent 
to birds that he would not turn his head if a Cardinal 
Grosbeak flashed by. I would rather see than know 
such aman. All my life I have known the Winter 
Red-birds, for by this name in my early days they 
were always spoken of to distinguish them from the 
Summer Red-bird, or Tanager; and in Central New 
Jersey, too, the name of Winter Red-bird was a most 
appropriate one, for the bird was a common, persistent 
feature of the December landscape. I never could 
understand why it was that Wilson should assert of 
them that 
