BIRDS-NESTS. 1 2 1 



within the city limits. The nest was placed in a low 

 bush, and the male continued to sing at intervals till 

 the young were ready to fly. The song of this bird is 

 a rapid, intricate warble, like that of the indigo-bird, 

 though stronger and louder. Indeed, these two birds 

 so much resemble each other in color, form, manner, 

 voice, and general habits that, were it not for the 

 difference in size, — the grossbeak being nearly as large 

 again as the indigo-bird, — it would be a hard matter 

 to tell them apart. The females of both species are 

 clad in the same reddish-brown suits. So are the 

 young the first season. 



Of course in the deep, primitive woods also are 

 nests ; but how rarely we find them ! The simple art 

 of the bird consists in choosing common, neutral-tinted 

 material, as moss, dry leaves, twigs, and various odds 

 and ends, and placing the structure on a convenient 

 branch, where it blends in color with its surroundings ; 

 but how consummate is this art, and how skillfully is 

 the nest concealed ! We occasionally light upon it, 

 but who, unaided by the movements of the bird, could 

 find it out ? During the present season I went to the 

 woods nearly every day for a fortnight, without making 

 any discoveries of this kind j till one day, paying them 

 a farewell visit, I chanced to come upon several nests. 

 A black and white creeping warbler suddenly became 

 much alarmed as I approached a crumbling old stump 

 in a dense part of the forest. He alighted upon it, 

 chirped sharply, ran up and down its sides, and finally 



