32 BIRDS. 
The nest was built near the end of a long, knotty, 
horizontal branch of an apple-tree, but effectually hid- 
den by the grouping of the leaves; it had three eggs, 
one of which proved to be barren. The two young 
birds grew apace, and were out of the nest early in 
the second week ; but something caught one of them 
the first night. The other probably grew to maturity, 
as it disappeared from the vicinity with its parents 
after some days. 
The blue-back’s nest was scarcely a foot from the 
ground, in a little bush situated in a low, dense wood 
of hemlock and beech and maple, amid the Catskills, 
—a deep, massive, elaborate structure, in which the 
sitting bird sank till her beak and tail alone were vis- 
ible above the brim. It was a misty, chilly day when 
I chanced to find the nest, and the mother-bird knew 
instinctively that it was not prudent to leave her four 
half incubated eggs uncovered and exposed for a mo- 
ment. When I sat down near the nest she grew very 
uneasy, and after trying in vain to decoy me away by 
suddenly dropping from the branches and dragging 
herself over the ground as if mortally wounded, she 
approached and timidly and half doubtingly covered 
her eggs within two yards of where I sat. I disturbed 
her several times to note her ways. There came to 
be something almost appealing in her looks and man- 
ner, and she would keep her place on her precious 
eggs till my outstretched hand was within a few feet 
of her. Finally, I covered the cavity of the nest with 
a dry leaf. This she did not remove with her beak, 
but thrust her head deftly beneath it and shook it off 
upon the ground. Many of her sympathizing neigh- 
bors, attracted by her alarm note, came and had a 
peep at the intruder and then flew away, but the male 
