NATURE'S CALENDAR 127 



bushes and vines and seed-bearing weeds june 7 



that hide neglected fences and stone 



walls; and here, in a somewhat larger 



tree, is placed the rough home of the 



rose-breasted grosbeak, and perhaps also 



that of the scarlet tanager, though that 



gay fellow likes better the seclusion of the 



woods, for his wife at any rate. 



Another conspicuous June breeder, in 

 localities where marshes favor their pres- 

 ence, are the marsh wrens. These con- 

 struct hollow balls, as big as one's head, 

 made of blades of the marsh - grass, and 

 hung among the reeds to which it is firm- 

 ly bound. The entrance is a hole in the 

 side. Whether it is necessary to wait 

 until the reeds have grown to a certain 

 height and thickness, or whether some 

 other reason prevails, at any rate these 

 active and noisy little creatures, which 

 arrive early in May, do not get at their 

 egg-laying until the middle of June. 



June is the breeding-month of such of 

 the warblers as remain to nestle in our 

 latitude, and the list includes some of the 

 most interesting and beautiful of this 

 fascinating race. Commonest and best- 

 known of all these is the summer yellow- 

 bird, or golden warbler, whose trilling 

 voice comes to our ears from every garden 

 shrub. In such places, and especially 

 among the boughs of the maples that 

 shade village streets, it weaves its neat, 

 hempen, softly lined nest. 



Other tree-builders among the warblers 



