42 NEST-BUILDING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 



pleased to see them lay the foundation of their 

 home in that spot. I congratulated myself that 

 at least one brood in North Carolina would 

 have a chance to come to maturity and be 

 free; and so persistent is the warfare waged 

 against this bird — unfortunately marketable at 

 any stage from the egg — that I almost doubt 

 if another will. The day after they began 

 building a northwest storm set in, and for three 

 days we had high winds and cold weather. In 

 spite of this, the brave birds persevered, and 

 finished their nest during those three days, al- 

 though much of the time they made infrequent 

 trips. It was really most touching to watch 

 them at their unnatural task, and remember 

 that nothing but the cruelty of man forced 

 them to it (one nest had been destroyed). Their 

 difficulty was to get up against the wind, and, 

 having little experience in flying upward, they 

 made the natural mistake of starting from the 

 foot of their chosen tree. Sometimes, at first, 

 they flew with the body almost perpendicular ; 

 and afterwards, when they held the body in 

 proper position, they wished to go so directly 

 up that they turned the head back over the 

 shoulder to see where they were going. The 

 wind, too, beat them far out of their course, 

 and they were obliged to alight and rest, occa- 

 sionally being forced to cling to the trunk of a 



