40 LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY 



feathers, no doubt, and threatening to scalp him the 

 next moment. 



That near relative of the kingbird, the great 

 crested flycatcher, has one well-known peculiarity: 

 he appears never to consider his nest finished until 

 it contains a cast-off snake-skin. My alert corre- 

 spondent one day saw him eagerly catch up an onion 

 skin and make off with it, either deceived by it or 

 else thinking it a good substitute for the coveted 

 material. 



One day in May, walking in the woods, I came 

 upon the nest of a whip-poor-will, or rather its eggs, 

 for it builds no nest, — two elliptical whitish spotted 

 eggs lying upon the dry leaves. My foot was within 

 a yard of the mother bird before she flew. I won- 

 dered what a sharp eye would detect curious or char- 

 acteristic in the ways of the bird, so I came to the 

 place many times and had a look. It was always a 

 task to separate the bird from her surroundings, 

 though I stood within a few feet of her, and knew 

 exactly where to look. One had to bear on with his 

 eye, as it were, and refuse to be bafiled. The sticks 

 and leaves, and bits of black or dark brown bark, 

 were all exactly copied in the bird's plumage. And 

 then she did sit so close, and simulate so well a 

 shapeless, decaying piece of wood or bark ! Twice 

 I brought a companion, and, guiding his eye to the 

 spot, noted how difficult it was for him to make out 

 there, in full view upon the dry leaves, any sem- 

 blance to a bird. When the bird returned after being 

 disturbed, she would alight within a few inches of 



