30 BIRDS'-NESTING. 



large knife having the back notched into a saw. The 

 observations in regard to obtaining eggs from difficult 

 positions, detailed on page 17, will of course apply- 

 here equally well, and need not be repeated. Nests 

 that rest on the ground often require to be secured 

 against dropping to pieces by a little judicious wrap- 

 ping, or tying together, or even by a few coarse 

 stitches with a needle and thread ; while those built 

 of mud, like the swallow's and the phcebe's, will 

 crumble, more or less, unless each one is fitted into a 

 pretty tight box, and not handled afterward. 



And here let me put down something which I neg- 

 lected to mention before, when describing methods 

 of search for the nests of birds wily in concealing 

 their homes and pearly treasures. One of the most 

 difficult classes of birds' nests to lay one's hands 

 upon is that of the ground-builders. These nests 

 are not only concealed among the grass of the mead- 

 ows, but perhaps amid the tall stems of growing 

 grain ; and even if you flush the parent by walking 

 through the fields, you cannot always trace it to its 

 home, since with cunning caution it has run to a 

 little distance from the object of its anxious hiding 

 before starting up. 



To aid in finding such nests, I have heard of th*e 

 following plan being adopted : Two persons take a 

 long rope of sufficient weight to drag well upon the 



