122 WAKE-ROBIN 



The pewees, as a class, are the best architects 

 we have. The kingbird builds a nest altogether 

 admirable, using various soft cotton and woolen sub- 

 stances, and sparing neither time nor material to 

 make it substantial and warm. The green-crested 

 pewee builds its nest in many instances wholly of 

 the blossoms of the white oak. The wood pewee 

 builds a neat, compact, socket-shaped nest of moss 

 and lichens on a horizontal branch. There is never 

 a loose end or shred about it. The sitting bird is 

 largely visible above the rim. She moves her head 

 freely about and seems entirely at her ease, a cir- 

 cumstance which I have never observed in any other 

 species. The nest of the great- crested flycatcher is 

 seldom free from snake skins, three or four being 

 sometimes woven into it. 



About the thinnest, shallowest nest, for its situa- 

 tion, that can be found is that of the turtle dove. 

 A few sticks and straws are carelessly thrown to- 

 gether, hardly sufficient to prevent the eggs from 

 falling through or rolling off. The nest of the pas- 

 senger pigeon is equally hasty and insufficient, and 

 the squabs often fall to the ground and perish. 

 The other extreme among our common birds is fur- 

 nished by the ferruginous thrush, which collects 

 together a mass of material that would fill a half- 

 bushel measure; or by the fish hawk, which adds 

 to and repairs its nest year after year, till the whole 

 would make a cart-load. 



One of the rarest of nests is that of the eagle, be- 

 cause the eagle is one of the rarest of birds. Indeed, 



