Song Birds and Water Fowl 
from the ground; and, in explanation, the 
owner of the island told him that, ‘‘ When I first 
came here, many years ago, they all built their 
nests on the moss and in open ground ; but as 
my sons and the fishermen collected most of 
their eggs for winter use, and sadly annoyed 
the poor things, the old ones gradually began 
to put their nests on the trees in the thickest 
parts of the woods, while the youngest birds 
still havesome on the ground.’’ Onsome ad- 
joining islands, to which fishermen and eggers 
had free access, Audubon afterward found 
that the gulls were nesting entirely in trees. 
The ground was first chosen, as being amply 
sufficient in this remote region; but when cir- 
cumstances made this location dangerous, they 
resorted to the trees; which seems to summar- 
ize the whole problem. 
Since writing the foregoing, I have found a 
rather strong corroboration of the argument, in 
the record of a naturalist concerning a peculiar 
nest of the red-winged blackbird, which he had 
discovered. The nest of this bird is commonly 
on the ground, or in low bushes, and, as the 
books describe it, is ‘‘rather bulky, and not 
at allartistic.’’ But the writer states that he 
had found one that was ‘‘ placed on a slender 
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