BIRDS THAT PREY AND SOME THAT DO NOT 507 



the summer yellowbird composed of five stories, 

 each of which, except the top one, contained a cow- 

 bird's egg. The fifth story was not quite com- 

 pleted when the nest was taken, but the egg of the 

 intruder was already more than half buried in the 

 new structure. 



But other birds sometimes build 



COMPOUND NESTS, 



but not for the same purposes as the summer yel- 

 lowbird although these novelties are always inter- 

 esting. 



Almost everyone whose business or occupation 

 has introduced him to an intimate acquaintance 

 with the salt marshes that line our eastern coast, is 

 familiar with the odd, chattering notes of the marsh 

 wren. This little bird finds its board and lodging 

 among the reeds and rank grasses of the damp 

 salt meadows. Morning and evening its song, if 

 such vocal efforts can be so called, may be heard, 

 but especially does it delight to sing at night. Often 

 after a long sail, when belated and overtaken by 

 night, the writer has welcomed the unmusical but 

 not unpleasant, notes of the long-billed marsh wren 

 as a signal from shore and home. 



A sailing party composed of some of my friends 

 were once caught in a dense fog and only discov- 

 ered their dangerous proximity to the shore when 

 they heard the warning notes of one of these 



LITTLE COASTGUARDS. 

 Other birds find refuge and sustenance among 



