BIKDS'-NESTS. 1 1 3 



better concealment during incubation. But this is not 

 satisfactory, as in some cases she is relieved from time 

 to time by the male. In the case of the domestic dove, 

 for instance, promptly at midday the cock is found 

 upon the nest. I should sooner say that the dull or 

 neutral tints of the female were a provision of nature 

 for her greater safety at all times, as her life is far more 

 precious to the species than that of themale. The in- 

 dispensable office of the male reduces itself to little 

 more than a moment of time, while that of his mate 

 extends over days and weeks, if not months. 1 



In migrating northward, the males precede the fe- 

 males by eight or ten days ; returning in the fall, the 

 females and young precede the males by about the 

 same time. 



After the woodpeckers have abandoned their nests, 

 or rather chambers, which they do after the first sea- 



1 A recent English writer upon this subject presents an array 

 of facts and considerations that do not support this view. He 

 says that, with very few exceptions, it is the rute that, when both 

 sexes are of strikingly gay and conspicuous colors, the nest is 

 such as to conceal the sitting bird ; while, whenever there is a 

 striking contrast of colors, the male being gay and conspicuous, 

 the female dull and obscure, the nest is open and the sitting bird 

 exposed to view. The exceptions to this rule among European 

 birds appear to be very few. Among our own birds, the cuckoos 

 and blue jays build open nests, without presenting any noticeable 

 difference in the coloring of the two sexes. The same is true of 

 the pewees, the king-bird, and the sparrows, while the common 

 bluebird, the oriole, and orchard starling afford examples the 

 other way. 



8 



