108 WAKE-ROBIN 
Very few species use the same material uniformly. 
1 have seen the nest of the robin quite destitute of 
‘mud, In one instance it was composed mainly of 
long black horse-hairs, arranged in a circular man- 
ner, with a lining of fine yellow grass; the whole 
presenting quite a novel appearance. In another 
case the nest was chiefly constructed of a species of 
rock moss. 
| The nest for the second brood during the same 
' season is often a mere makeshift. The haste of 
the female to deposit her eggs as the season advances 
seems very great, and the structure is apt to be 
prematurely finished. I was recently reminded of 
this fact by happening, about the last of July, to 
meet with several nests of the wood or bush spar- 
row in a remote blackberry field. The nests with 
eggs were far less elaborate and compact than the 
earlier nests, from which the young had flown. 
Day after day, as I go to a certain piece of 
woods, I observe a male indigo-bird sitting on pre- 
‘cisely the same part of a high branch, and singing 
in his most vivacious style. As I approach he 
ceases to sing, and, flirting his tail right and left 
with marked emphasis, chirps sharply. In a low 
bush near by, I come upon the object of his solici- 
tude, —a thick, compact nest composed largely of 
dry leaves and fine grass, in which a plain brown 
bird is sitting upon four pale blue eggs. 
The wonder is that a bird will leave the appar- 
ent security of the treetops to place its nest in the 
way of the many dangers that walk and crawl upon 
