i8 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 



matter, for one after another flew to a location from which they could 

 see me. It is quite difficult to make them take wing, as they are very 

 agile and will dodge in and out among the clumps of grass and escape 

 observation., and when they do fly, it is only for a few feet. I have re- 

 peatedly seen them do apparently impossible feats of walking upon the 

 water. They would run rapidly across the creek, taking advantage of 

 every floating twig or leaf, without allowing their unsecure footing the 

 necessary time to sink beneath their weight. 



A WOODLAND SONGSTER, 



In nearly all New England woodlands, particularly those slightly in- 

 clined to be marshy, the Veery will be found. He is frequently classed 

 as the sweetest American songster, but although it is very pleasing to 

 the ear to hear his clear, tremulous, whistling solo, early in the morn- 

 ing and towards dusk, I hardly think that he has earned this high dis- 

 tinction. I had the fortune to observe the home life of a pair of them 

 this past summer. The illustrations with this article, I prize more 

 highly than any others that I have secured, because of difficulties and 

 other incidents connected with their taking. That I only secured two 

 good photographs of the bird in as many weeks, does not signify that 

 that this is all the plates that I exposed. On the contrary, at least 

 a dozen were transformed into worthless pieces of glass, some from 

 faults of my own and others from unavoidable circumstances. Before 

 discovering the nest shown here, I had attempted to photograph two 

 others, but could not as the patience of the birds exceeded my own, 

 and neither of them would return while I was near. 



As I was walking through a certain small marshy bit of woods, I 

 was startled by the flushing of a bird at my feet. Her alarm note as 

 she disappeared through the underbrush announced that it was a Wil- 

 son's Thrush or Veery. Glancing downwards, from whence she had 

 started, my eyes at once rested on four bright blue eggs snugly nestled 

 in a handsome cradle of grapevine. It hardly seems possible after 

 finding the nest of this bird that one can go by and not notice such a 

 conspicuous object; yet I have spent more than an hour looking for 

 one, and been unable to find it, although I was certain that it was but a 

 few feet away. These birds almost always nest in places which are 

 well covered with brush or weeds, and a single fern or leaf over the 

 nest conceals it effectively. 



The day following my discovery, I returned to see what success I 

 might have with this nest. I first watched and saw that the bird al- 

 ways entered the nest fiom the rear, and then I placed the camera in 



