40 



THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



size, .79 X .60. 



When disturbed from the nest, the female 

 usually noiselessly flies away, hut should 

 the male be in the \-icinity he is likely to 

 give you a piece of his mind, in the form of 

 a portion of his song uttered in a sharp, 

 scolding, jerky manner, though he gener- 

 ally keeps himself well conx^aled. 



Their song is rather pleasing, and at 

 limes reminds one of a mixture of the 

 chatter of a Wren and the notes of Bell's 

 \'ireo, though uttere 1 in a much s.veeter 

 tone. 



When first hatched, the young Buntings 

 resemble their mother, as they are all olive- 

 green in color. The young males do not 

 obtain their full plumage until the third 

 year, and when shedding their first coat for 

 the last time, they present a most miser- 

 able appearance. A bird now in my pos- 

 session is undergoing this change, and a 

 more wretched looking creature I have 

 never seen. 



He has one broken feather as an apology 



for a tail, and his back and breast are a 



mixture of olive-green and his new colors. 



When first captured they are very timid 



and may not sing for months, but finally 



they become reconciled to . their narrow 



homes and seem as contented as Canaries. 



J. K. Streckek, Jr. 

 Waco, Texas. 



ODD SITUATIONS FOR NESTS. 



BY DIDVMUS. 



One Robin's nest was situated in a corn- 

 crib, another on a girth in a barn; one nest 

 on the top of a stump two feet above the 

 water of a mill-pond, and twenty feet or 

 more from shore. Several Robins' nests 

 have been found in hollows of stubs and 

 stumps, and one in a freight-car; still an- 

 other in a chimney. Several have been 

 found on the ground, and one on old corn- 

 stalks. 



A Chipping Sparrow's nest was taken 

 from the side of a large straw-.stack, and 

 this season I found another nest in an 

 equally peculiar situation. It was ])erhaps 



built by the same pair of birds, as it was 

 only a few rods from the old straw-stack. 

 It was place 1 in the upper working gear 

 of a self-binder, housed in a tool-shed on 

 the farm. It contained four eggs. 



One Chickadee's nest, with eggs, was 

 placed in an out-house nearly in the center 

 of a populous village. A GreU-crested 

 Flycatcher built a nest in the hollow end 

 of a rail lying on the fence, and a King- 

 bird occupied a nest and laid eggs in a cav- 

 ity in a stump only three feet from the 

 ground. A curious place for a Pewee's 

 nest was on the roots of an overturned 

 tree. Of course such situations were com- 

 mon in earl\' days, but the birds now pre- 

 fer buildings and bridges. 



A Partridge's {boitasa) ne.^t was raised a 

 foot or more on a stump, while a Mourning 

 Dove chose some roots beneath the margin 

 of a gravel bank. My much-lamented 

 friend, Dr. H. A. Atkins, found a Sand- 

 hill Crane's nest on a board support for hay 

 in the marsh. The only Mallard's nest I 

 ever found was in an excavation in the top 

 of a stub, a rod or more out in the water, 

 and in just the spot which would be our 

 selection for a Wood Duck. 



Chimney Swifts not rarely build inside 

 of barns, and sometimes in hollow trees, as 

 before the advent of white men in America. 

 A Song Sparrow's nest fifteen feet up, and 

 a Dick-sissle's structure even more, are 

 instances of how generally low builders, 

 will take a rise. Another ground bird, the 

 Spotted Sandpiper, distinguished itself by 

 building on a log. 



In a suitable spot for Red-wing Black- 

 birds, where there was not an abundance 

 of ru-shes, the birds built in a lot of cut 

 brush and seemed contented. In new lands 

 the Ikonzed Crackles adopt hollows in dead 

 trees as nesting situations, and 1 have found 

 dozens of .sets of eggs in bare hollows, and 

 not a nest built in crotches anywhere 

 around. 



A Gra.ss Finch built its nest a foot from 

 the ground and interwove the edges with 

 the stalks of some vigorous red clovtr. I 



