88 A BIRD'S-NEST HUNTER. 



But, if such be the rule, there are at least 

 some glaring exceptions. I have alluded 

 to the rude structure of the rose-breast, and 

 might have used nearly the same language 

 concerning the tanager's, which latter is 

 often fabricated so loosely that one can see 

 the sky through it. Yet these two are 

 among the most gorgeously attired of all 

 our birds. On the other hand, while the 

 wood pewee is one of the very plainest, there 

 are few, if any, that excel her as an archi- 

 tect. During the season under review I had 

 the good fortune to light upon my first nest 

 of this fly-catcher ; and, as is apt to be true, 

 having found one, I immediately and with- 

 out effort found two others. The first two 

 were in oaks, the third in a hornbeam ; and 

 all were set upon the upper side of a hori- 

 zontal bough (" saddled " upon it, as the 

 manuals say), at the junction of an offshoot 

 with the main branch. Two of them were 

 but partially done when discovered, and I 

 was glad to see one pair of the birds in 

 something very like a frolic, such a state as 

 would hardly be predicted of these pecu- 

 liarly sober-seeming creatures. The builder 

 of the second nest was remarkably confid- 



