TWO BIRDS'-NESTS 



till, instead of five, they became one, and that one a 

 circular mass of dark bluish stone or fragment of 

 bark. When I withdrew or concealed myself, they 

 would rise up and their individual forms become 

 outlined. 



Another new nest which it was my luck to find the 

 past summer was that of the worm-eating warbler, a 

 bird of the Carolinian fauna, that heretofore has not 

 been known to breed in our State — New York. It 

 was a new find, then, in a double sense, new to me 

 and new to the ornithology of the State. 



One day in early June, as I was walking along a 

 path on the side of a bushy hill, near dense woods, 

 I had a glimpse of a small brown bird that dashed 

 away from the bank but a few feet from me. I took 

 it to be the oven-bird. 



Looking to the spot from whence it started, I saw 

 a bird with a striped head standing on the edge of a 

 nest in the side of the shelving bank, with something 

 white in its beak. I saw the heads of the young birds 

 beneath, and took in the situation instantly; I had 

 surprised the mother bird while she was waiting 

 upon her young. She stood motionless, half-turned 

 toward me, still keeping the white mass in her beak. 



Neither of us stirred for a minute or two, and the 

 other parent made no sound, though he lingered but 

 a few yards away. 



Presently I slowly withdrew, and sat down a few 

 paces away. The male bird now became quite un- 

 197 



