238 
NESTS AND EGGS OE 
counters with human foes, that victory lias often crowned the efforts of the 
birds. 
In some sections of the country these birds are said to nest in low 
bushes, but we have invariably found them in tall trees, at heights varying 
from fifty to sixty feet. In the second volume of the “American Natu- 
ralist,” a nest is described by a writer residing in Newark, N. J., which 
was built inside the spire of a church, and also another which was placed 
in a martin-house from which the lawful owners had been expelled. 
Wilson tells us that in his day it was quite a common occurrence for 
these birds to nidificate in the interstices of the nests of the Fish Hawk, 
when the latter builds in localities which they frequent. Several pairs are 
said to occupy at the same time one of these structures, and the most per- 
fect harmony to exist between them and their royal cousin. Audubon 
claims to have found nests of the Grackle in hollow trees, which has also 
been the experience of William Brewster, Esq., in Northern Maine, but 
it is highly probable that these accounts refer to the Bronzed Grackle. 
The nest is usually placed in a crotch close to the main axis of the 
tree in which it is built, sometimes on a branch at some distance there- 
from, and is held in &itu by others. It is a bulky affair, irregular in shape, 
and has no claims to architectural beauty. It is coarsely but firmly built 
of twigs, dry plants and other substances, interwoven with strong stems of 
grasses which have been picked up from pools of mud, considerable quan- 
tities of w'hich being still adherent. This mud renders them exceedingly 
weighty, and besides serving to keep them in position, also tends to 
agglutinate the elements of composition more compactly together. Inter- 
nally, a few fine grasses are found, which make a rather cosy chamber. 
The external diameter measures seven inches, and the height about six, 
while the cavity, which is very shallow considering the size of the birds, 
is four inches in width, and but two in depth. 
When the eggs are hatched the event is hailed with demonstrations 
of joy, and the parents watch over their helpless charges with more than 
