f.8 



THK IOWA ORXITHOLOGIST. 



ulicro ill the neig'liborhood and 

 will keep up a constant "pitting"", 

 thev are such close setters that it 

 is hard to start them from the 

 nest and even then they will 

 njver tlu.di directly from it but 

 dr()p[)ing' to the <,'-:ouiid, they run 

 along- that for a little distance, 

 appearing- ag-ain perhaps twenty 

 yards aw^ay coming- up suddenly 

 out of the w'eeds w-itli a few sharp 

 "[)its" and leading the collector 

 to think that the nest is there. 



I soon found that the onl}- way 

 to be sure about it w'asto beat the 

 whole place thoroug-hly, and in 

 this way I could find several nests 

 in the course of an afternoon. 

 The nest is usually placed in the 

 forks of a small shrub standing- in 

 thick growth of weeds, othertimes 

 in a strong weed itself, and often 

 it is W' ithin a few inches of the 

 g-round in a tang-le of w^eeds 

 blown down b}' the storms, but 

 never have I found it on the 

 ground or near enoug-h that a 

 question might be raised about it. 

 The nest is never in sight from 

 above, but is always placed so 

 that the weed tops are hig-her and 

 growling above and over so as to 

 completely shade and hide the 

 setting bird. I soon found that 

 the nest is much more easily 

 seen from below, and on coming 

 to a patch of rank growth that I 

 thoug-ht contained a nest, upon 

 g-etting down on hands and knees 

 and looking around, the nests 

 could easily be seen, as most of 



the leaves on the weeds were near 

 the tops, and ver}^ little hidden 

 from below. Of course this could 

 only be done wdiere the weeds 

 w'ere tall. In the low growth, I 

 t;ike a stick and parting the veg- 

 etation, or knocking it flat find 

 them. 



As I have said, they are very 

 close setters, and I have had 

 chances to examine the birds care- 

 fully, as upon parting- the leaves 

 overhead, I have found my face 

 within a few inches of the bird on 

 the nest and several times she has 

 stayed there a few- seconds before 

 sliding off, to the g-round, perfect- 

 ly silent until she appeared again 

 at a distemce. 



They are a very sensitive bird 

 about their nest, none more so, 

 for if the leaves are disturbed; or 

 apparently, even if they see that 

 you have found the nest, the}' will 

 desert it. I have found mam- 

 complete, and ready for the eggs, 

 or with one or tw^o eggs, and 

 without touching nest or con- 

 tents, have returned in a week or 

 so, expecting to take a nice set, 

 but always to be disappointed. 

 The number of eggs was always 

 the same, or the nest empty, or 

 again the nest was tipped partl}- 

 over undone or more eggs of the 

 Cow-bird in it, and the place 

 deserted. I never took a set 

 unless it was complete at the 

 time found. 



The nests are placed from 4 to 

 30 inches from the ground; about 



