192 IN BIRD LAND. 
heresy against her? Was it really a case of “ higher 
criticism’’? It may have been, especially when you 
remember that these thrushes often weave into their 
nests fragments of newspapers, some of which may 
contain theological discussions. 
One peculiarity in the nest-building of most of the 
birds of my neighborhood may as well be mentioned 
now as later; they seldom build in the densest and 
most secluded parts of the woods, but usually choose 
some bush or sapling near the border, or close to a 
woodland path or winding road, where people some- 
times pass. Perhaps they do this because the 
natural enemies of birds, such as squirrels, minks, 
and hawks, fight shy of these pathways traversed by 
human feet. Perhaps, too, the birds do not like the 
gloom and loneliness of the more sequestered por- 
tions of the woods. ‘They like to be semi-sociable, 
at least, and are not disposed to make monks and 
nuns of themselves. 
A far more artless nest is that of the turtle-dove. 
This bird should attend an industrial college for a 
term or two, to learn the art of building; but it 
would do no good: the meek little thing would cling 
obstinately to her inherited ideas, and never become 
a connoisseur in nest construction. Sometimes, 
when you stand beneath her cottage, you can see 
her white eggs gleaming through the interstices of 
the loosely matted floor. Asa rule, she builds on a 
branch ; but something possessed one little mother, 
in the spring of 1891, to build her nursery on a large 
stump about six feet high, standing right in the 
