140 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



quality of mercy in protecting these feathered creatures ; such 

 mercy is thrice blessed for it blesses first the birds, second 

 ourselves and third our children and our children's children in 

 transmitting to them undiminished Nature's heritage of Man's 

 allies." 



In migrating north the male pewee, like most other birds, 

 comes first and then awaits the coming of his mate. This 

 suggests two strange problems of bird life which as yet re- 

 main unanswered. Ornithologists tell us that the pewees mate 

 for life. Then, why do they not travel together, and since 

 they do not, how does the female find her mate? Perhaps the 

 answer to the last question is, that the pewee having once de- 

 termined to build its nest in a certain locality, becomes at- 

 tached to it, and returns to it year after year. This being 

 true, the female would most naturally expect to find her mate 

 at the old nesting place. If this be so, then will you tell me 

 how they so unerringly find the old nesting place in a journey 

 from Cuba and Panama to Newfoundland? That the pewees 

 do return to the same locality has been well estab- 

 lished. Audubon speaks of having found the same pair of birds 

 occupying a familiar nook in an old cavern which he had been 

 accustomed to visit for a number of years. At one time he 

 fastened to the legs of each of a brood of young birds, the off- 

 spring of this pair, a ring of silver thread ; these they carried 

 about with them for some time, and in the following spring 

 two of them were seen in the same locality, still wearing the 

 silver rings. 



The readers of this chapter can imagine my delight, when 

 in 1904 my gardener told me that a pair of phoebes had taken 

 possession of the roof plate, like that in the illustration, under 

 the northeast corner of the roof of the cottage at Buzzard's 

 Roost and built their nest. There they incubated and reared 

 two broods during the season. Directly after the first brood 

 came off another pair took possession of a like place at the 

 southwest corner of the cottage and reared a brood. The gar- 

 dener thinks that the second nest was built by a pair of the 

 young from the brood of the first nest, but I doubt it. I re- 

 joice in the fact, however this may be, that I am to have the 

 companionship of these birds that I have so much loved 



