CHAPTER VI. 



THE NESTING SEASON.* 



If you would really know birds, yon must study them 

 during nesting time. At this season they develop habits 

 that you will be surprised to learn they possess. The 

 humble owner of some insignificant call-note now fills the 

 role of a skilled musician. The graceful, leisurely Marsh 

 Hawk gives vent to his feelings in a series of aerial som- 

 ersaults over the meadows ; the sedate, dignified Wood- 

 cock tries to express his emotions l)y means of spiral evo- 

 lutions which carry him far al)Ove his usual haunts ; the 

 Night-Hawk dives earthward with needless recklessness ; 

 in fact, birds seem inspired by the joy of the season, and 

 all the brightness of a May morning is reflected in their 

 voices and actions. 



Mating over, there follow the marvels of nest-build- 

 ing with its combined evidences of instinct and intelli- 

 gence. In due time the young appear, and the bird, now 

 a parent, abandons the gay habits of the suitor, and de- 

 votes every waking moment to the care of its young. 



Time of Nesting. — With most birds the nesting season 

 is periodic and annual. With migratory birds it coin- 

 cides with the season of the year when their summer 

 homes are habitable. But we might suppose that the 



* Read In Nesting Time, Little Brothers of the Air, and other 

 works by Olive Thorne Miller. A-Birding on a Broncho, by Florence 

 A. Merriam (Houghton, ftlifflin & Co.). 



64 



