146 BIRDS'-NESTS. 



by stretching out my hand. Birds of prey 

 show none of this confidence in man, and, 

 when locating their nests, avoid rather than 

 seek his haunts. 



In a certain locality in the interior of New 

 York, I know, every season, where I am 

 sure to find a nest or two of the slate-colored 

 snow-bird. It is under the brink of a low, 

 mossy bank, so near the highway that it 

 could be reached from a passing vehicle with 

 a whip. Every horse or wagon or foot pas- 

 senger disturbs the sitting bird. She awaits 

 the near approach of the sound of feet or 

 wheels, and then darts quickly across the 

 road, barely clearing the ground, and dis- 

 appears amid the bushes on the opposite 

 side. 



In the trees that line one of the main 

 streets and fashionable drives leading out of 

 Washington city, and less than half a mile 

 from the boundary, I have counted the 

 nests of five different species at one time, 

 and that without any very close scrutiny of 

 the foliage, while in many acres of woodland, 

 half a mile off, I searched in vain for a sin- 

 gle nest. Among the five that interested me 

 most was that of the blue grossbeak. Here 

 this bird, which, according to Audubon's 



