184 
NESTS AND EGGS OF 
By the tenth of March the happy couple are ready to go house- 
hunting. The female assumes the direction, and it is not long before they 
are suited. Their usual nesting-place is some cranny in a dead tree, 
or the vacant hole of a departed Woodpecker. The snapping off of a 
time-honored limb has often opened the way for a snug retreat. Almost 
any nook or cavity will answer in a pinch. Birds have been known to 
build in a dee^J fissure between the branches of a tree, in a broken tin 
water-sjDOut under the eaves of a building, between the blind and sash of 
an almost forsaken window, in the stolen home of some eave swallow, in 
boxes and gourds, or occasionally in the forked branch of an apple-tree. 
When a garden or orchard is chosen, objections are sometimes made 
by other species, and frequent encounters are recorded between the Blue- 
birds and such Wrens, Martins and Sparrows as deem themselves to have 
been badly treated by the former. In these affrays, contrary to exjjecta- 
tion, the Bluebird is usually victorious, being more than a match for the 
smallest of our Woodpeckers, and even lording it over such professional 
fighters as the English Sparrow. But his pluckiest and most inveterate 
enemy is the House Wren. This tiny buccaneer will often visit the 
Bluebird’s snug house, while the mistress is absent, and after raking out 
the materials, remain in possession. Any attempt, however, at interference 
when the family is within, is treated as an insult, and summarily avenged 
Generally Madam Bluebird and her husband are such gentle, quiet bodies 
that they never think of molesting their neighbors. As in well-regulated 
human communities, there are individuals who are not above such mean- 
ness. A case in point came under our observation some five or six years 
ago. A pair of Great-crested Flycatchers, finding an empty tomato-can 
secured to the to]3 of a post, had made it their home and treasure-house. 
Shortly afterwards a pair of Bluebirds came upon the scene, and coveting 
the cosy quarters, sought to expel the rightful owners. The Flycatchers 
resisted, and the property-owner, desirous of ending the disturbance, shot 
the female Bluebird. The male immediately flew away, but to return in 
the course of a half-hour with two females. The contest was renewed. 
