292 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



ings's California Magazine of the issue of 1859 as saying that they lay 

 their single egg in a hollow tree, though he admits that there is a wide 

 divergence in the reports of those who have paid attention to the nid- 

 ification of this bird. Some six or seven pages of interesting matter 

 concerning this great vulture is given by Dr. Cooper in his work as 

 well as some excellent cuts, but much of the experience in the way of 

 nest finding and the habits of the birds is widely different from mine 

 on the same subject. 



THE ROBIN AND THE READY-^BUILT NEST, 



It ever was a speculation with me, what a bird would do when con- 

 fronted with an unexpected affair, where something akin to reasoning 

 would be necessary, and a choice would have to be made to solve the 

 matter, though I am sure they gain skill in nest making, from what I 

 have noted in the buildings constructed from year to year by the colo- 

 ny of Orioles, that for a decade have nest in the big elm by the house, 

 and the nests each year added to my nest collection, for they have 

 shown all grades from a most crude affair, to a most elaborate one 

 built entirely out of long horse hairs, in which the highest type of 

 skill in felting the hair was exhibited. The incident I started to tell of 

 happened in May of this year. I have a wren box fastened to the 

 carriage house on the side near the gable peak. I noticed that a robin 

 had just commenced to carry mud and grass and was starting to build 

 on its fiat top. Knowing where there was a perfect last years robin's 

 nest I quickly brought it, put a plaster of mud on the box, and placed 

 the nest down into it, and was gone ladder and all, before the bird re- 

 turned, with her next load of building material. The outcome was in- 

 teresting. The bird sailed up and just as she reached the nest, she 

 stopped in her flight, hovered about the nest, and finally settled on the 

 edge dropping her material; she inspected the nest, got down into it, 

 tried the "fit" in every way, then flew away, quickly came back with 

 her mate, and for an hour continued to examine the nest, try it, bring 

 mud and put on the edge, again try its proportions, chirp and wonder 

 if she had really built the nest and had forgotten it, and how it came 

 about any way. The next day I saw nothing of the robins and had 

 concluded that my help had been discarded, but the third day, the bird 

 brought fine grass, lined up the nest and in due time put four eggs 

 into it, and hatched her brood and brought them off without incident or 

 loss, and yesterday I saw her again fixing up the nest with the evident 

 intention of bringing off another brood, no doubt thinking it was the 

 cheapest summer home she ever domiciled in, and is perhaps wonder- 

 ing if robins have reached a period, when ready made homes are to be 

 provided for them on their arrival from the Gulf swamps. 



John Gould. 



