Rare and Curious Nests, 267 
the possession of the skill necessary to the production of 
so perfect a domicile. Externally the nest is formed of 
grasses and rushes, neatly and intricately interwoven, with 
here and there a head of the dry pappus of some species of 
hawkweed. Sedges and fine grasses make for it a cosy and 
comfortable lining. This nest shows quite conspicuously in 
the drawing, but in its natural position, in the centre of a 
large field, the authors had spared no pains to have its con- 
cealment as perfect as possible. 
Typical nests of these Blackbirds are somewhat irregular 
in outline, and rather coarsely and rudely built of stubble 
and broad grasses, variously intermingled, and lined with 
soft meadow grass. Usually they are placed in clusters of 
weeds or in the tops of small bushes alongside of streams of 
water. High positions are seldom chosen for nesting pur- 
poses, as they offer poor facilities for food-collecting, the 
aquatic larve, may-flies, dragon-flies and mosquitos, which 
constitute a prominent part of the diet of these birds, being 
only found in marshy situations. Small bushes along the 
margins of streams, from the double advantage which they 
possess, are almost exclusively adopted in certain localities. 
Being convenient to appropriate food-stufis, they are, at the 
same time, out of the reach of snakes, especially water- 
snakes, which have a decided fondness for young birds. 
Of the sub-family of Orioles, to which the Red-wing belongs, 
no member, unless it be the namesake of Maryland’s distin- 
guished proprietor, builds a more magnificent nest than the 
one that inhabits the orchard. In the books it is known by 
the no means euphonious title of /cterus spurius. Its nest 
is shaped like a pouch, and generally pensile. Soft, flexible 
meadow grasses, neatly and compactly woven together, 
make up the outer fabric, while within is a lining of vegetal 
or animal wool, or one of fine grasses intermingled with 
horse-hair. But the handsomest ever seen was one that was 
found in the vicinity of Nazareth, Pa., by Richard Christ, in 
the summer of 1883. It is of the usual size, five inches in 
