I20 IN BIRD LAND. 



break — a bevy of red-winged blackbirds, which 

 had been roosting in the long grass, flew up with 

 vociferous cries and protests at the rude 'awakening 

 I had given them, just when they were enjoying 

 their morning nap. Blame them who will for 

 making loud ado, for there are many people who 

 would do the same under similar provocation. 

 Thus it will be seen that many birds sleep on the 

 ground. My investigations lead me to this con- 

 clusion : As a rule, those birds which nest on or 

 near the ground, and spend a considerable portion 

 of their time in the grass, hke the meadow-larks 

 and song-sparrows, roost on the ground, while 

 others find bushes and trees more to their taste. 

 Still, there are exceptions to this rule ; for on several 

 occasions, while bent on my nocturnal prowlings, 

 I have driven the turtle-dove from the ground, 

 although this bird usually roosts in the thorn-trees 

 and willows.' 



The robins choose thick trees and even wild rose- 

 bushes for roosts. In the apple-trees and pines of 

 a neighbor's yard across the fields these birds find 

 sleeping-apartments early in the spring, before 

 nest-building is begun, for a perfect deluge of 

 robin music often pours from that locahty, both 

 morning and evening. 



The white-thioats, wood-sparrows, and brown 

 thrashers make use of the thick thorn-trees of the 

 marsh for lodgings. They flutter about in sore 



' This is, after all, no exception, for I have since found a 

 number of turtle-doves' nests on the ground. 



