BIRD CURIOS. 29 
plover’s nest was found by my farmer neighbor on 
the ninth of April. It was on the ground in an 
open field, with not so much as a spear of grass for 
protection. 
That year the crow blackbirds arrived from the 
south in February, all bedecked in holiday attire, 
the rich purple of their necks scintillating in the 
sunshine. You have perhaps observed the droll an- 
tics of these birds as they sing their guttural O-g/ee. 
It is amusing to see them fluff up their feathers, 
spread out their wings and tails, bend their heads 
forward and downward with a spasmodic movement, 
and then emit that queer, gurgling, half-musical 
note. It would seem that the little they sing re- 
quires a superhuman —more precisely, perhaps, a 
super-avian — effort, coming aqueously, one might 
almost say, from some deep fountain in their wind- 
pipes. These contortions do not invariably accom- 
pany their vocal performances, but certainly occur 
quite frequently. The red-wings also often behave 
in a like manner; and both species always spread 
out their tails like a fan when they sing, whether 
they fluff up their plumes and twist their necks or 
not. 
Another bit of bird behavior gave me not a little 
surprise during the same spring. It started this 
query in my mind: Is the white-breasted nuthatch 
asap-sucker? It has been proved by Mr. Burroughs 
and Mr. Frank Bolles, I think, that the yellow- 
bellied woodpecker is. But how about the frisky 
nuthatch, so versatile in ways and means? Here is 
