BIRD'S-NESTING 115 



the two long feathers of its tail, and had a glimpse 

 of the gray and white of its plumage. Some weeks 

 before, the Banker had found down there one of its 

 rare and beautiful nests, like a large hummingbird 's 

 nest, lined with down and thatched on the outside 

 with lichens, and fastened to a high bough. 



That day I found the first nest of the prothonotary 

 warbler. This bird uses deserted woodpeckers' nests 

 in dead trees set in marshes, so it was necessary to 

 paddle around to every dead tree which showed a 

 hole. I finally saw a little red-birch stub sticking 

 up in the corner of the marsh, and rowing over to it, 

 noticed a small hole in its side. Picking away the 

 bark, I made it larger and a piece of the fresh green 

 moss, from which the nest of the prothonotary 

 warbler is always built, showed itself. Imbedded in 

 the moss was a vivid orange-yellow feather, which 

 could belong to no other bird. The nest was just 

 built and contained no eggs. 



The Banker found the second nest, in a willow- 

 stub ten feet from the ground, in an old downy wood- 

 pecker 's nest. He found it by seeing the male bird 

 fly into the hole. Climbing up to the nest, he found 

 that in it were four young birds. Perching on a limb, 

 he sat about four feet from the nest while I was in the 

 boat perhaps ten feet away. The cock-bird flew up 

 with a May-fly, making a soft alarm-note something 

 like that made by a field sparrow, only gentler. He 

 flew up close to where my friend sat and hesitated 

 for a long while. Finally, the hungry little birds 

 inside gave a prolonged squeak, which probably 



