THE OOLOGIST. 



151 



^blossoms in October. Now among the 

 early nesting birds we have at least ten 

 species which are known to nest in 

 March, and one, the Great-horned Owl, 

 which lays its eggs in February as a 

 rule, and occasionally in January. As 

 a legitimate nester in the autumn we 

 have the Goldfinch, which is not rarely 

 found to lay its eggs in September. 



Thus we find that the range of nest- 

 ing birds is wider than the flowering 

 time of our northern plants, though 

 many will dispute this on first mention. 



Nearly, or quite all birds return to 

 the same location year after year. 

 Many use the same nest seasonally, as 

 the hawks and owls, aud many of the 

 woodpeckers, more particularly the 

 Red-head and Flicker, while others, as 

 the orioles frequently build a new nest 

 in the same or adjoining tree. It is 

 not unusual to see three nests of the 

 Baltimore Oriole in an elm; one fresnly 

 built, of the year, and the others in var- 

 ious states of dilapidation as indicated 

 by the time when built, I have seen 

 five nests thus graded in a tree and it is 

 not rare to see fonr. Robins are mnch 

 given to returning to the same nest, 

 and I have known instances where a 

 pair has nested in the same tree for 

 eight consecutive seasons. Some years 

 the pair would lay the first set of eggs 

 in another nest, but the second brood 

 was sure to be laid in the old nest, 

 which was repaired for the occasion. 

 Robins, and all other species which 

 rear two broods in a season, so far as I 

 am able to learn, nearly always select 

 another nest for the second brood; how- 

 ever if the nest is robbed of the eggs 

 the female will not rarely lay a second 

 time in the nest the same season, and 

 this is more likely to be the case if the 

 neighboring tree where the pair form- 

 ally built has been removed. Few 

 birds will select the nest that the first 

 brood of the season was reared in for 

 the second brood. Birds are very neat 

 about their household arrangements, 



and are constantly at work keeping 

 everything in the best of shape. StiU 

 the birds know that a house becomes 

 at times unsanitary, and the pair near- 

 ly always selects another site for a 

 second brood. 



The mother bird is much more con- 

 stant in her attention to the home 

 duties than is the male, as I have ob- 

 served in a great many instances and 

 in many species the mother bird feeds 

 and cares for the brood entirely. The 

 nearest approach to an equality in the 

 care of the young is in the case of the 

 Robin, as the male not only does his 

 full share of the duties of incubating, 

 but also attends to the duties of bring- 

 ing food to the growing birds. The 

 only time when he appears neglectful 

 is when he pauses in the work to pipe 

 a few notes; bu5; then the patient mate 

 is evidently pleased at this departure, 

 and but strives the harder to feed her 

 babies as her brave mate carols to her 

 from a near-by limb. 



In feeding the young different species 

 follow widely varying methods. Most 

 of the precocious birds, those which 

 walk or swim when hatched, as the 

 Grouse and Bob-white and the Ducks, 

 take the young about as does the 

 domestic hen, when the little fellows 

 pick up the food after the manner of 

 the door yard chicks. Some of the pre- 

 cocious birds as the Woodcock and 

 sandpipers when very young are taken 

 care of after the manner of the nest- 

 lings, but this is all changed in a few 

 days. I have seen the Spotted Sand- 

 piper feed its young much as the Robin 

 and other Perchers feed their brood. 

 Nearly all species which are not pre- 

 cocious feed their young by regurgita- 

 tion when the nestlings are small. I 

 am not positive, but 1 believe that all 

 of the perchers are thus given to feed- 

 ing the nestlings in their extreme youth. 

 Among the larger birds, many feed in a 

 similar manner, some, as the pigeons, 

 following this method throughout the 



