BIRDS’—NESTS 111 
intervals till the young were ready to fly. The 
song of this bird is a rapid, intricate warble, like 
that of the indigo-bird, though stronger and louder. 
Indeed, these two birds so much resemble each 
other in color, form, manner, voice, and general 
habits that, were it not for the difference in size, 
— the grosbeak being nearly as large again as the 
indigo-bird, —it would be a hard matter to tell 
them apart. The females of both species are clad 
in the same reddish-brown suits. So are the young 
the first season. 
Of course in the deep, primitive woods, also, are 
nests; but how rarely we find them! The simple 
art of the bird consists in choosing common, neu- 
tral-tinted material, as moss, dry leaves, twigs, and 
various odds and ends, and placing the structure on 
a convenient branch, where it blends in color with 
its surroundings; but how consummate is this art, 
and how skillfully is the nest concealed! We occa- 
sionally light upon it, but who, unaided by the 
movements of the bird, could find it out? During 
the present season I went to the woods nearly every 
day for a fortnight without making any discoveries 
of this kind, till one day, paying them a farewell 
visit, I chanced to come upon several nests. A 
black and white creeping warbler suddenly became 
much alarmed as I approached a crumbling old 
stump in a dense part of the forest. He alighted 
upon it, chirped sharply, ran up and down its 
sides, and finally left it with much reluctance. 
The nest, which contained three young birds nearly 
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