Familiar Studies of Wild Birds 



season of the hummers starts in full earnest. 

 Of the six nests I found in the valley, four 

 were less than three feet from the ground on 

 pine boughs, one about six feet up, and one 

 twenty feet up on the dead limb of an ash tree. 

 Two of these nests were found about half com- 

 pleted on June 19th, which appears to be 

 about the beginning of the nesting season. 

 Two other nests were found soon after this, 

 partly completed, so that it seems that all the 

 birds start nesting at nearly the same time. 

 The willow down of which the nests are con- 

 structed is available about the middle of June. 

 It is a cotton-like substance shed after the wil- 

 lows have flowered, which readily sticks to a 

 rough bark surface. The beginning of the 

 nest is as ethereal as a spider web, and it is 

 built up very gradually, the bird sitting on the 

 bough and twisting and turning as she models 

 the delicate architecture of her home. Com- 

 pleted, it is the supreme example of bird skill 



