156 HOW TO STUDY BIRDS 



breast. The cuckoos also seek the thick places, 

 though frequently they locate in the orchard. The 

 two kinds are not easy to distinguish, and the book- 

 descriptions should be read carefully. 



In places more swampy still, and rather more open, 

 the red-winged blackbird is the most conspicuous citi- 

 zen, especially the male, with his flashing red epaul- 

 ettes, who will not fail to let one know where he is. 

 Sometimes the kingbird will surprise us by dwelling 

 in the bushy swamp, building the nest in the crotch 

 of a bush over the water or even out from the shore 

 of a pond. The swamp sparrow is partial to such 

 places, where there are grassy tussocks among the 

 bushes. It is in these tussocks that the rather rare 

 short-billed marsh wren makes its nest. Where the 

 swamp becomes the bog, with tall reeds or rushes, 

 the long-billed marsh wren dwells and suspends its 

 odd globular nest among the stems. Here are found 

 certain water-birds, which will be described later. 



The other main division of the landscape is the 

 woodland, and a very charming one it is. Many of 

 the smaller species thought of as woodland birds are 

 more apt to be found near the edge of the woods, ad- 

 jacent to open land or even human habitation. 

 Among our most typically woodland birds are the 

 thrushes, with the exception of the robin; yet even 

 this familiar fellow I have found nesting in the 

 woods. Most conspicuous of them is the wood 

 thrush, of good size, with bright brown back and 

 heavily spotted breast and sides. The only bird it 



