Rare and Curious Nests. 265 



answers its purpose. Near the little town of Thornbury, in 

 the State of Pennsylvania, a pair of these birds, in the sum- 

 mer of 1882, took possession of a derrick, and, as a site for 

 a home, selected the space over a sheave in one of the station- 

 ary blocks, where, in due time, was deposited their rude, yet 

 comfortable, nest of sticks and feathers. A similar structure 

 occupied the spot the previous year, and a brood of eight 

 birds was raised. It was not the elements of composition of 

 these nests that excited interest and surprise, for they are 

 not materially different from the usual form, but the strange, 

 anomalous situation which they occupied. So dexterously 

 were the materials arranged within the space that the revo- 

 lution of the wheel was not in the least interfered with. The 

 nest was approached on the side facing the rope that 

 moved the pulley. The opposite side could have been used 

 for this purpose, and doubtless with less danger to life or 

 limb, but preference seemed to be shown for the other. 

 Why this was so was for some time a mystery. But when 

 the birds were seen to alight upon the rope at the top of the 

 derrick and ride down to the nest, the explanation at once 

 became apparent. 



Never did linnet enjoy the rocking twig, or bobolink the 

 swaying cat-tail, with half the zest than did these eccentric 

 creatures their ride down the rope. A hundred times a day, 

 when necessity arose, they treated themselves to the pleasure, 

 the rope all the while moving at the rate of thirty feet in a 

 second. Six of the seven days, from early morn till night, 

 they availed themselves of this strange conveyance, and 

 never a danger occurred to mar their delight. In due time 

 a family of happy, rollicking children was raised, and the 

 nest on the derrick deserted. 



More beautiful are the nests which the Red-winged Black- 

 birds build. These are the birds that affect our swamps and 

 marshes, and make the air ring with their loud, clear, reso- 

 nant notes. Before me is a nest that surpasses in beauty the 

 average structure. It is a bulky affair for the species, but so 



