The Seamy Side of Bird-Life 



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blue jay's nest lately subject to a similar acci- 

 dent. A dove's nest that I had been watching, 

 because of its unusual position on the edge of 

 a ledge of rocks, came to an end by the eggs 

 being rolled over the cliff in a gust of a thunder- 

 storm. 



The only nest of those among tree branches 

 really safe in respect to gales is the pendent 

 purse of the Baltimore oriole, which sways with 

 the elastic twigs at the extremity of which it 

 hangs, and suffers no harm as long as they hold 

 their form. This nest is secure against many 

 other dangers to which most are exposed, and 

 probably the comparative abundance of this 

 beautiful denizen of our parks and orchards 

 and rural highways is largely due to this fact. 



Misfortunes that befall bird families through 

 physical agencies, such as rains, floods, gales, 

 forest fires and the like, play but a small part, 

 however, in the " infant mortality " of the 

 woods, beside the loss from marauders of vari- 

 ous sorts, from the bird's-nesting boy or cattle's 

 crushing foot to the minute insect vermin that 

 sometimes compel small species to abandon their 

 <+$ 53 $*> 



