122 WAKE-ROBIN 
The pewees, as a class, are the best architects 
| we have. The kingbird builds a nest altogether 
! admirable, using various soft cotton and woolen sub- 
stances, and sparing neither time nor material to 
make it substantial and warm. The green-crested 
pewee builds its nest in many instances wholly of 
the blossoms of the white oak. The wood pewee 
builds a neat, compact, socket-shaped nest of moss 
and lichens on a horizontal branch. There is never 
a loose end or shred about it. The sitting bird is 
largely visible above the rim. She moves her head 
freely about and seems entirely at her ease, —a cir- 
cumstance which I have never observed in any other 
species. The nest of the great-crested flycatcher is 
seldom free from snake skins, three or four being 
sometimes woven into it. 
About the thinnest, shallowest nest, for its situa- 
tion, that can be found is that of the turtle dove. 
‘A few sticks and straws are carelessly thrown to- 
‘gether, hardly sufficient to prevent the eggs from 
‘falling through or rolling off. The nest of the pas- 
senger pigeon is equally hasty and insufficient, and 
the squabs often fall to the ground and perish. 
The other extreme among our common birds is fur- 
nished by the ferruginous thrush, which collects 
together a mass of material that would fill a half- 
bushel measure; or by the fish hawk, which adds 
to and repairs its nest year after year, till the whole 
would make a cart-load. 
| One of the rarest of nests is that of the eagle, be- 
| cause the eagle is one of the rarest of birds, Indeed, 
i 
