Phcebe 109 



him the name, in some quarters, of "Bridge Phoebe." Once 

 successfully established, the Phoebe returns year after year 

 to the same place and rears his young. I knew an old bridge, 

 in early days, under which a pair of Phoebes builded their 

 nests for several successive years. As surely as April came 

 I always found them there at work on their domicile; and 

 before the month was over the five white eggs were laid. 

 Then, as is Phoebe's custom, another and sometimes a third 

 brood was reared. Phoebe's nest is of such a character as 

 to invite the presence of vermin, and for this reason they rarely 

 inhabit the same nest twice. I say that my Phoebes returned 

 year after year; but once upon a time Farmer Babcock drew 

 an extra heavy load of stone over the bridge, and the nest and 

 its contents fell into the muddy stream. I found the wrecked 

 home and feared that the birds would desert the locality, but 

 no, not so; they constructed another nest against an adjoining 

 beam and the full complement of eggs was laid. Incubation 

 was well under way when a very heavy and continued rain 

 came on, the fastenings of the nest were loosened and it shared 

 the fate of the first. No other nest was made and the birds 

 disappeared. Next year I watched anxiously for their return, 

 but they did not come back, and for several years, as long as 

 I knew those haunts, the old bridge remained a silent place. 

 That was a long time ago and I have often wondered, should 

 I go back there, if I should find another generation of Phoebes 

 breeding in that spot. 



The Phcebe is not altogether "civilized." I have found 

 them breeding in the mountains with their nests placed under 

 shelving racks and close to roaring torrents. This was their 



