THE OOLOGIST. 



303 



prised to see that not one of them was 

 wet in the least. The cause of this I 

 found was that the overhanging top of 

 the bank protected a certain area from 

 storms, and not a single nest was built 

 beyond this area, though they followed 

 it along the boundai'y line, but did not 

 pass the latter. It would seem that the 

 birds had found all this out, either by 

 experience in former years or by watch- 

 ing the bank carefully A small part 

 of the colony was photographed, where 

 ■about seventy nests were dug in a space 

 a little over a rod long. 



It might be well to speak here of 

 double nests, that is two separate nests 

 being built by one pair of birds. A 

 pair of Chipping Sparrows once built 

 two such nests in one of our pear trees 

 and about two feet apart. They carri- 

 ed material first to one and then to the 

 other of the nests, till at last one was se- 

 lected and finished the other being 

 abandoned. In the Boston Museum of 

 Natural History, there is a nest of the 

 Red-eyed Vireo, so doubled, in this case 

 however, the two nests are slung like 

 saddle bags over a small twig, having 

 a common top between them. The 

 probable reason for building two nests, 

 may be to see which is the better adapt- 

 ed to the builder's purpose, or perhaps 

 in cases where both are complete the 

 male may occupy one at night, but I 

 can find no satisfactory proof of this. 

 An extra amount of energy may also be 

 accountable for this freak. 



The Kingfishers almost invariably 

 starts several holes and finally choose 

 one, leaving the others in various 

 stages of completion. The Kingfisher's 

 method of building is very pecu- 

 liar. Both birds take up positions on 

 different perches near the bank in 

 which the nest if to be dug. As far as 

 I have observed, one bird, presumably 

 the female, does most of the work, and 

 at intervals of about a minute, will 

 leave its perch, and flying to the sel- 

 ected spot in the bank, hover before it 



a second, then dive at it with much 

 force, striking it with its heavy bill, dis- 

 lodging a small quan'ity of sand, when 

 it again backs oft" and hovers for a sec- 

 ond before it dives at it again, after 

 which it returns to its perch once more. 

 After several mornings work in this 

 manner, for the birds do it leisurly, and 

 work almost wholly in the early part of 

 the day or sometimes a little before sun- 

 set, the hole is in far enough to admit of 

 the bird's standing in the entrance to 

 work, probably pecking with its bill 

 though I have never been able to ap- 

 proach near enough to determine exact- 

 ly. The chief worker is helped at inter- 

 vals by the other bird, though I have 

 often seen the later work on a separate 

 hole, and sometimes giving each hole 

 one or two pecks before returning to its 

 perch. This method of woi'king is of 

 course the only practicable one for such 

 large birds, or they might cling to the 

 bank and peck as the Bank Swallows 

 are said to do. 



Position. 



The position of a nest is usually se- 

 lected with more or less reference to the 

 nest's concealment. The Mhiotiltidce, 

 especially, as a family are very adept at 

 hiding away their nests, those built- on 

 the ground being hardest to find, as 

 they are tucked away out of sight in 

 some clump of weeds or under a fallen 

 bough. Indeed, about the only way to 

 find these nests is to watch the birds 

 while they are building, for as many 

 authors have testified, a long time spent 

 in searching is almost always unavail- 

 ing, though one may know within a few 

 feet where the hidden treasures are. 

 Prof. Maynard says concerning the nest 

 of the Pine-creeping Warbler (Dendrceca 

 rigorsii), ''They keep close watch of 

 their homes, and when any one chances 

 to approach them, will chirp loudly; 

 but although the collector can thus as- 

 certain when he is in the vicinity of a 

 nest, he will find that the birds have 



