FIELD AND STUDY 



coons to bedeck the outside, and was duped by a 

 white rosebush that was dropping its petals in a 

 near-by dooryard. I saw white rose-petals on the 

 ground under the nest, and wondered where they 

 came from. Keeping my eye on the bird, I saw her 

 fly down to the rosebush, seize a petal and fly up to 

 her nest, and try to make it stick to the outside. 

 But it was not fuzzy or woolly like the spider's ma- 

 terial, and would not stick; it quickly came sailing 

 down to the ground. Time after time I saw the bird 

 carry up rose-petals to her nest, only to see them 

 fall back to the ground. She seemed to have no judg- 

 ment in the matter; the size and the color of the 

 petals were all right, but their texture was not of 

 the right kind. I think she finally gave up the 

 attempt to make use of them. 



Do these patches on the side of the dark-gray 

 nest of the vireo help to conceal it a kind of 

 instinctive camouflage? They help give it a mot- 

 tled appearance, and in the flickering light and 

 shade of the tree-tops they may help to render it 

 less noticeable, though only to eyes underneath 

 it. A crow or a jay, the bird's arch enemies, 

 would not be misled by them. 



It is always interesting to me to see the young 

 birds leave their nest. It is, as I have just said, gener- 

 ally an irrevocable step; they very rarely go back 

 young swallows, however, perhaps more frequently 



72 



