GREEN, GREENISH GRAY, AND OLIVE 435 



horizontal limb on which it is saddled that a hard shake 

 will not loosen it. You cannot see it from below, but 

 the nervous little builders are sure to betray its location 

 if you venture near. With tails wagging excitedly and 

 bills snapping with sharp clicks, all the while uttering a 

 shrill "pip-pip-pip/' they protest against your presence 

 in their wood. About the middle of June, were you so 

 unmindful of their wishes as to persist in climbing sixty 

 feet to see, you would find three creamy eggs beautifully 

 wreathed with brownish spots in the pretty green nest ; 

 but you would meet a warm reception from the furious 

 parents. Were they half as dangerous as they are bold, 

 you would never climb to a second nest. 



They are equally intolerant of feathered intruders, espe- 

 cially if they be of their own species. Each pair seems to 

 preempt a certain range from a fourth to a half mile in 

 extent near the shore of a lake or along a stream, and 

 on these preserves they allow no poaching. I believe 

 they confine all their excursions to this territory so long 

 as they remain in the same region. Only two things 

 seem to be required in their breeding-ground, — conifer- 

 ous trees and water. They are extravagantly fond of 

 their morning bath, and are at it when the water is cold 

 almost to freezing. To witness this one must rise with, 

 if not ahead of the sun, for it is the first act of their 

 waking hours. The young also are taught to enjoy a 

 splash almost as soon as they learn to fly. 



Only one brood is reared in a season, for they come 

 north very late and leave again by the last of August 

 to winter in the tropics. Incubation lasts about fourteen 



