bnt, returning next day to the desolate 

 nest he caught sight of himself in a look- 

 ing glass which hung near, and seating 

 himself on a shelf beneath, he poured 

 forth a welcoming strain, sure that the 

 reflection of himself in the glass was his 

 lost mate. This he repeated several 

 times, but receiving no response, he 

 became discouraged and at last forsook 

 the cozy nest. One spring a wren was 

 determined to build inside of the house. 

 She selected a place in the library on top 

 of a low book-case, depositing her sticks 

 in a corner near a bust of Psyche. Day 

 after day the rubbish was removed and 

 an effort made to beguile her to a vine 

 on the porch. At the last removal she 

 became quite angry, flew to the door, 

 seized the hem of the maid's dress in her 

 bill and twitched it vigorously, then flew 

 out of the window and selected a site for 

 her nest inside the shutter of an upper 

 window. Here she was undisturbed and 

 successfully i-aised her brood." 



''Don't the marsh wrens build odd 

 nests?" John asked. 



''It is worth a trip to the prairie 

 sloughs to see their cocoanut-shaped 

 nests. They are made of mud and 

 rushes and are swung to the reeds above 

 reach of high tide. The entrance is a cir- 

 cular hole, two or three inches from the 

 top. 



"The blue wren, or gnat-catcher, 

 wisely builds her nest on a limb about 

 the diameter of the nest so it will look 

 like a knot. It is cup shaped, lined with 

 down, and covered with lichens which 

 are the color of the bough." ' 



"What a wise little head she has, to 

 be sure. The brown creeper is as wise, 

 for she makes a nest of fine inner bark 

 of trees, and hides it under a rough pro- 

 jecting bark. I know this, because I 

 found the nest," said Frank. "And T 

 found one of the myrtle warbler. It 

 was woven chiefly of grasses with the 

 edge curiously bound with roots, which 

 were fastened on with fiber plants," 

 Howard added. 



"If there is no paralcllism between 

 nest-building and intelligence, why is it 

 that the beautiful assassin, the shrike, so 

 often selects a thorn tree for her com- 

 fortable nest? She has been described 

 sitting on her casket, as resembling 'an 

 antique lid of oxidized silver.' Rut it 



must be admitted that although individ- 

 ual birds vary their nest construction, as 

 a rule each tribe builds according to the 

 fashion of ancestral habit. The swift 

 seeks the chimney, the swallow the barn, 

 and the woodpecker never forgets to 

 make a circular tunnel in a tree to serve 

 as a nest. The whip-poor-will uses a 

 hollow in the ground and the kingfisher 

 makes a burrow in a bank. The scien- 

 tific name 'troglodytes,'- — cave-dwellers — - 

 is given tO' a little bird that loves secret 

 nooks and corners. The bird that feeds 

 its young milk, the pretty blue and white 

 pigeon, builds a rude nest within the 

 barn." 



"Have you ever had the birds build so 

 near the house that you could watch 

 their housekeeping?" Alice asked. 



"Yes. A cardinal grosbeak built her 

 nest in a honeysuckle vine on the front 

 portico, while the cardinal, her mate, 

 made the yard gay with his brilliant 

 plumage and happy morning and even- 

 ing songs. Unfortunately, the nest was 

 hung too low and was not very strongly 

 built. A few layers of dead leaves 

 served as a foundation for a lovely 

 woven nest of dry grass stems. No 

 sooner were the dainty eggs laid, than a 

 prowling cat tore down the nest. Noth- 

 ing daunted, the bird began the very 

 next day to build a new nest on a wis- 

 teria at the other end of the portico. 

 Again the mistake was made of placing 

 the nest too low, although it was higher 

 than before. As soon as the bird began 

 to sit on her new eggs, the cat caught 

 and killed her. On account of this trag- 

 edy the distress of the male bird was so 

 great it was pitiful to see. He dashed 

 himself against the window, as if pos- 

 sessed with the idea that his mate must 

 be within. During the spring he had 

 been accustomed to come into the room 

 arjd eat cracker crumbs from off my 

 writing desk. The windows were opened 

 wide, so that he might see for himself 

 that she was not a prisoner within. He 

 caught sight of a red cushion at an 

 upper window and made frantic efforts 

 to reach the place. Gaining admittance 

 and not finding her, his grief was so 

 great that I wondered if a bird could 

 commit suicide. But finally, after a few 

 days, he decided on a different course. 

 He went off to the woods and in twenty- 



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