90 Twelve Months With 



somewhat alarmed and suspicious because of the 

 marks I had left in the dirt. Finally her courage 

 and confidence returning she quickly darted 

 straight into the nest, as they usually do, without 

 alighting at the opening of the hole. I then waited 

 about ten minutes to see if she would come out 

 again, but she did not, and I therefore concluded, 

 probably correctly, that there were eggs in the nest. 

 A large basswood tree had fallen into the stream 

 at this point, and the branches extended along near 

 the nest. I have noticed that frequently the nests 

 of this little bird are burrowed out adjacent to 

 fallen trees or roots in the bank, which they use as 

 a convenient perch, and which seem to determine, 

 in part at least, the location of the nest. 



I discovered another nest a little farther up the 

 stream, on the opposite side in a similar bank, at 

 about the same height above the water. There was 

 a small overhanging bush near by, and some roots 

 running in and out of the bank, which several of 

 the birds were using as resting places between 

 flights up and down the stream. One male bird in 

 the group seemed bent on driving the father bird 

 away, and usurping his place in the affections of 

 the mother bird. The two male birds fought des- 

 perately, fluttering up through the air with bills 

 together; and then, tumbling down again until 

 they nearly touched the surface of the water, they 

 darted off in lively, spirited chase. They kept up 

 the fight for several minutes, and the unobtrusive 

 female, the apparent cause of all this discord, 



