104 UPLAND AND MEADOW. 



probable that their power of distinguishing adults ia 

 not from individual peculiarities of expression, but of 

 voice. When I changed a single bird, a few days 

 younger, for one of another brood, there was a commo- 

 tion at once, but in no instance was the changeling in- 

 jured or forced from the nest ; and I did not detect any 

 searching for the missing one by the old birds, or any 

 discussion between the persecuted parents as to what 

 should be done. They simply discovered the change, 

 and made the best of what they doubtless considered an 

 inexplicable circumstance. 



In the spring of 1884 there were eleven pairs of gra- 

 kles nesting in the pines, seven pairs of which raised 

 two broods. In April, 1885, there were seven pairs 

 busy building their nests, and the backwardness of the 

 season made them ludicrously in haste, when, on the 

 20th, it became suddenly very warm. Prior to that 

 date the cold winds and daily prevalence of ice and 

 frost kept the poor birds in a constant state of bewilder- 

 ment ; they located their nests, marking their claims by 

 a few sticks, and waited. Shivering and chattering, 

 they waited for three weeks, and then, literally in hot 

 haste, with the thermometer over 80° in the shade, ran 

 up their rude structures in so short a time that their 

 strength to withstand high winds is a matter of doubt. 



Let me particularize the grakles of '84, for these 

 were more closely observed than any previous colony. 

 They came early in February, and held many consulta- 

 tions as to the best localities for the nests. The three 



