3o8 Bird -Lore 



Kingbird seemed to have a great deal of curiosity in regard to this nest-build- 

 ing, for he flew under the clump of foliage, then alighted beside it, and finally 

 settled down into the cup-shaped place where the Waxwing had begun the 

 nest. Having fully satisfied his curiosity, he departed, and was no sooner gone 

 than the Waxwing reappeared and again took up the thread. Mr. Tyrannus, 

 however, was not far away, and had evidently been keeping his eye on the 

 spot, for down he swooped, as before, and put a stop to the proceedings. 



The difference between the two birds was very noticeable, the Kingbird 

 so aggressive and impetuous, the Waxwing so retiring and gentle, yet both 

 so insistent. The little by-play was kept up for several successive rounds, 

 the Kingbird swooping down from his perch above, the Waxwing coming up 

 in a quiet mouselike manner from the branches below. 



As soon as one left the other appeared. Finally the Kingbird decided to 

 perch right on the spot, deeming, no doubt, that "possession was nine points 

 of the law." He sat bolt upright beside the nest for fully fifteen minutes, and 

 then flew away. By this time the Waxwing had undoubtedly decided that 

 life was too short to waste any more time wrangling over a building-site when 

 the neighborhood was full of others just as good. 



We remained for some time watching the spot but neither bird returned. 



From the same observation point we witnessed a scene in which the actors 

 were a pair of Maryland Yellow-throats and a turtle. 



We first noticed the turtle crawling up from the stretch of sand. As it 

 neared the shrubbery it would stretch out its neck, and lift its. head as if Us- 

 tening. At the base of the basswood tree was a tangle of new shoots, and as 

 the turtle pushed his way through them, a dry twig snapped, and immediately 

 there appeared overhead in the branches of the basswood, a Maryland Yellow- 

 throat, the female. She seemed very much worried about the advancing 

 turtle and gave a little call, which brought the male to her side at once. Both 

 birds hopped from branch to branch over the place where the turtle had 

 stopped, but they did not utter a sound. Whether the turtle saw me, or for 

 some other reason changed his mind, I do not know, but he turned and slowly 

 crawled back to the river. When certain that the danger was over, the Yellow- 

 throats dropped to the ground and disappeared for awhile. They take such a 

 roundabout way of getting to their nests that it is difficult to follow them. We 

 remained perfectly still and soon heard the chack, quit, quit of the male as he 

 hopped in and out among the weeds and low bushes. The female flew from 

 a low bush to some weeds nearer the river, and we watched very closely the 

 neighborhood of the bush until she returned. She alighted, first on the bush 

 about two yards from the nest, then flew to the ground, and winding back and 

 forth, came nearer and nearer to where I thought the nest was located. She 

 was perfectly quiet, uttering no sound, but the male was keeping up his little 

 quit, quit. As the bushes were somewhat scattered and the weeds not so very 



