1 16 Wild Birds 



song, and the period of courtship, which is very ardent in the 

 Bluebird, begins. The affection and gallantry of the Bluebird 

 have aroused the enthusiasm of many observers. Unfortu- 

 nately, we are obliged to add that a case of polygamy in this 

 species has been reported. 1 



The choice of a nesting site is made with great care and de- 

 liberation. If they accept the house or box prepared for them, 

 they often have to defend it against the Wren, the Martin, and 

 the House Sparrow. Wrens and Martins are easily driven off, 

 but the pugnacity of the Sparrow and the greater numbers 

 which he can usually muster render resistance hopeless. An 

 abandoned Woodpecker's hole is not disdained, since it forms 

 a safe, cozy house which needs little furnishing. This snug 

 cavern is sheltered from sun and rain, and secure from most 

 birds and beasts of prey. The rotten fence-post and the many 

 holes in the decayed apple trees may also contain the secret of 

 the Bluebird's nest. 



On August n, 1899, I saw a pair of Bluebirds paying 

 marked attentions to an old "auger-hole" in an apple tree, made 

 by Golden-winged Woodpeckers. It was plainly a case of nest 

 within nest. The female was carrying insects to her invisible 

 young, which I supposed at this late day were ready to fly, but, 

 as it afterwards appeared, they were only five days old. This 

 hole had been nicely drilled beneath the springing branch of 

 a truncated and now dead prong of the tree, fifteen feet from 

 the ground. 



When an opportunity was offered on August isth, I sawed 

 off the limb, two feet from the opening, and set it up in a con- 

 venient spot fifty feet away. It was so arranged that the whole 

 trunk could be rotated, and the circular entrance of this nest 

 turned directly to the sun at any time of day. I had barely 

 left the place to fetch the tent when the mother bird flew from 

 the apple tree to the stump, entered the hole, and having fed 

 the young, came out with a small white parcel in her bill. This 

 bird had her eye on the nest, and was ready to visit it in its new 

 situation, when free to do so. The tent was placed two feet 

 1 Bulletin Nuttall Ornithological Club, vol. viii., p. 63. 



