396 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



a flock, even though it has just been decimated by an attack of this 

 kind, will immediately return to the same decoys upon a repetition of 

 their call and meet with a second loss, before they decide to keep- 

 away from such an unhealthy locality. They are quite shy if they se& 

 a man on foot, but they have yet to learn that the invisible man, the- 

 one who is concealed behind a brush heap is the more dangerous. 



It is almost impossible to stalk them when they are feeding along the- 

 m.arsh as they are very keen sighted, which fact very often saves the- 

 lives of other varieties of shore birds, for on rising the Yellow-legs- 

 give warning cries which startle all the other birds that may be within, 

 hearing. 



Although large numbers of them are found along the coast in th& 

 fall, they are, I think, the most numerous in the interior along th& 

 fresh water marshes. 



They do not stop but a few weeks in the United States and the ma- 

 jority pass along and spend the more severe part of the winter in. 

 South America. Their food is the same as that of the majority of the 

 waders, small Crustacea and worms. They wade quite deep while 

 feeding, immersing their head and neck to reach the morsels that are 

 below water. It is said that they are good swimmers also, using their 

 wings rather than their feet as paddles. 



BIRD^WIT. 



B^• Edgar Bo^er. ^ 



Several instances have come under my notice, in studying bird life ^ 

 that lead me to believe that our little brothers of the air are .g-i|fed-- with 

 a higher order of intelligence than they are usually credited witfe-'They 

 either possess some pretty sound sense cvp ..else their instinct is certain- 

 ly wonderful. 



A few summers ago a pair of wrens chose for a nesting site the 

 twine-box of a binder. The box was cylindrical in shape and might 

 have comfortably sheltered half a dozen pairs of wrens. It was of 

 sheet metal and the wrens gained entrance by four two inch holes in the 

 sides, which served as either doorway or window. They half filled the 

 box with all shapes, sizes and kinds of sticks, small sticks of course, 

 and yet some of them were very large for a little wren to carry. I 

 watched them as they built and noticed that they left a hole down 

 through the sticks on one side and naturally supposed they would line 

 this for their nest. Then several days passed but they made no furthei 

 progress. I couldn't imagine why they didn't line the nest. Every 

 time I approached the box both wrens were there ready to give to me 

 a tongue lashing which they kept up until I beat a retreat. One day,. 



