Rare and Curious Nests. 277 



for his little beak always finds something to do while his 

 patient wife is busy with the duties that lead to maternity. 



Coming like whirling leaves, half autumn yellow, half 

 green of spring, their colors blending like the outer petals 

 of grass-green daffodils, no more sociable and confiding little 

 creatures are to be found in our midst than the Yellow War- 

 blers. They are as much at home in the trees by the house 

 as in the fields and woods. Wherever they wander, the 

 glints of sunshine that flash from their backs should make 

 the most miserable complainer feel the summer's charm. 

 But in spite of their seeming preference for man, they are 

 prone to build in lonely fields and by-ways. In such places 

 it becomes one of the especial victims which the Cow Bird 

 selects to foster its random eggs. But the Warbler puts its 

 intelligence effectively to work, and builds a second story 

 to its nest, thus flooring over the unwelcome eggs. This 

 expedient is repeated as long as the Cow Bird continues her 

 mischief, until sometimes a three-story nest is achieved. The 

 outside of the nest, composed of glistening milkweed flax, 

 is pressed into a felt-like case, the fibres serving at the same 

 time to lash the nest to its support. Within, to the depth of an 

 inch, is a soft sponge-like material, which the birds have 

 made from the wool they have gathered from the stems of 

 young ferns. A few horse-hairs, to give shape and stability 

 to the nest, are to be found in the inside of the felt-like 

 lining. 



Hundreds of nests, quite as novel as any that have been 

 described, might be instanced, showing varieties from so- 

 called normal forms, but I shall content myself with only 

 another example. Everyone is familiar with the Ruby- 

 throated Humming Bird, so common in the eastern half of 

 the United States. It is the smallest of all our birds. But 

 its nest, which is by no means scarce, is a rare sight to the 

 average man and woman. No nest can be compared with it. 

 It is a thing of beauty and a joy forever. A mass of cotton, 

 with a hole in the top, and thatched all round with blue-gray 



