THE BITTERN 



adaptive, and they have each his own 

 idiosyncrasy. The book which shall 

 tell us the substantial part of all that 

 is known about the universal breeding 

 habits of even the best known birds is 

 yet to be written. 



Long 3-ears ago I climbed a grizzled 

 old white oak tree, with a flicker hole 

 near the dead top. Here a pair of 

 Bronzed Crackles scolded. To tear 



habit than the facts will warrant. In 

 Wisconsin and Minnesota, at least, one 

 seldom lands more than a half dozen 

 nests together, and seldom this many. 

 All, of course, depends upon the ex- 

 tent of the breeding ground. 



The Red River Valley, in northern 

 Minnesota, presents many curious de- 

 partures in nesting habit among many 

 birds from conditions prevailing else- 



NEST AND EGGS OF BRONZED GRACKLE 



BY THE AUTHOR 



out the rotten wall of wood and bark 

 was the work of a moment; and there, 

 tier upon tier, were the nests of six 

 successive years. All, as I recall, 

 were normal. \\'ere all by one pair 

 of birds? And is this form of breeding 

 as exceptional as it seems? 



The caucus- holding habit of this 

 bird, with its concomitant scolding 

 during the days while the young are 

 growing, has given rise to a greater 

 appearance of the colony-breeding 



where. Each poplar thicket along 

 the streams has, indeed, its two or 

 three nests of the grackles, far up near 

 the top, but the most interesting nest 

 site, and a ver}' common one, is shown 

 by the appended illustration. 



All along the Red river and its trib- 

 utaries, the white willow, a local va- 

 riety, I think, is found abundant. And 

 everywhere its stems are stung by 

 some insect; so that a single shoot will 

 subdivide minutely, and send out a 



