156 ' HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 



The thrushes build coarse but substantial nests ; the 

 wood thrushes and robins make the walls of moistened 

 clay, lining them with soft, dried grass, so that they are 

 very solid and comfortable structures ; to prevent these 

 houses from filling with water during a heavy shower 

 while the birds are absent, they wisely leave thin or 

 open places near the bottom, through which the water 

 can pass out. Several species of birds that nest before 

 the leaves are out choose evergreens for their first 

 brood, and if a second is raised it is generally in a 

 deciduous bush or tree. Last spring the leaves were late 

 in coming out, and of the first hundred nests that I 

 examined, principally of robins and chipping birds, 

 ninety of them were in evergreens ; a month later the 

 number was nearly reversed. 



The Baltimore oriole usually seeks the elm on Avhich 

 to hang its nest ; the long, pendent branches allow the 

 bird to build beyond the reach of most quadrupeds, so 

 that probably a larger percentage of the young of these 

 birds is raised than that of any other. 



Birds of the same species are partial to particular 

 fabrics or materials to be used for building. 



Although the common wrens usually seek cavities in 

 which to place the nest, yet sticks constitute a large 

 portion of these curious domiciles, only the inside being 

 lined with the softest and most delicate stuffs. The 

 cat-bird also uses sticks for the main part of the struct- 

 ure, and these seem to be selected with especial regard 

 to color, being dark twigs corresponding nearly to the 

 color of the bird. This appears to be a general instinct 



