226 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XVI. 



little of their winter covering of snow ; indeed, on 

 the higher inland mountains their white dresses ex- 

 tend down very nearly as low as in the winter. But 

 notwithstanding the bad weather there is much to 

 amuse and interest one in the sheltered parts of the 

 low country. Every plant and flower is bursting 

 into beauty, in spite of the cold blasts ; and the 

 small birds are in full activity and seem at the 

 height of their happiness. It is also a constant 

 source of amusement to us to watch the various 

 ways of building and the different nests of the small 

 birds. Each nest has its own character, and each bird 

 its own place of concealment. The little willow 

 wren forms one of the most interesting nests, which 

 it places either under a bush in the flower-garden, 

 or in a rough grass-field, where it forms a kind of 

 dome-shaped nest, made to assimilate completely 

 with the surface of the surrounding ground. 



The common wren, too, is very choice and careful 

 in the structure of her nest, and sometimes builds 

 in the most singular situations. I saw one this year 

 which was built in a cactus that hung from the roof 

 of a greenhouse. Every time the little bird wished 

 to add a leaf, or a piece of moss, she had to squeeze 

 and twist herself in through a small hole left for the 

 entrance of a vine stem. Her perseverance and 

 determination were extraordinary; for in spite of all 



