2ln ID JBarn 



frequented the old barn? Of course the pewee 

 had been here, and the nest, occupied year after 

 year for a generous fraction of a century, was in 

 full sight from my window-seat. It would be in- 

 teresting to accurately determine how long the 

 same nesting-site has been occupied of course 

 by the same pair of birds. I can speak positively 

 of one pewee, eleven years old, and have al- 

 ways fancied he had the same wife with him, year 

 after year. The bluejays and golden- winged 

 woodpecker came and went about the barn, but I 

 did not see them enter. At times, doubtless, 

 they do so, particularly in cold, wintry weather. 

 Here, now, it is a mere matter of shelter, unless 

 they sought insect food, for never a mouthful of 

 grain has been put here for almost twenty years. 

 Bluebirds of blessed memory for they have 

 been little else during the present year were for- 

 merly constant visitors, and often nested in one 

 convenient nook. These birds have largely dis- 

 appeared. Comparatively few have been noticed 

 for three or four years, and this summer I have 

 failed to find one where formerly there were hun- 

 dreds. It was their time-honored custom late in 

 August to associate with king-birds and young 

 orioles, and gather in the meadows and become 

 for the time expert fly-catchers, or they would 

 gather on the old worm-fences and stretch out, a 

 large, loose flock, for half a mile or more. There 

 was nothing of all this during the present summer, 

 ii 161 



