BIRD’S-NESTING 115 
the two long feathers of its tail, and had a glimpse 
of the gray and white of its plumage. Some weeks 
before, the Banker had found down there one of its 
rare and beautiful nests, like a large hummingbird’s 
nest, lined with down and thatched on the outside 
with lichens, and fastened to a high bough. 
That day I found the first nest of the prothonotary 
warbler. This bird uses deserted woodpeckers’ nests 
in dead trees set in marshes, so it was necessary to 
paddle around to every dead tree which showed a 
hole. I finally saw a little red-birch stub sticking 
up in the corner of the marsh, and rowing over to it, 
noticed a small hole in its side. Picking away the 
bark, I made it larger and a piece of the fresh green 
moss, from which the nest of the prothonotary 
warbler is always built, showed itself. Imbedded in 
the moss was a vivid orange-yellow feather, which 
could belong to no other bird. The nest was just 
built and contained no eggs. 
The Banker found the second nest, in a willow- 
stub ten feet from the ground, in an old downy wood- 
pecker’s nest. He found it by seeing the male bird 
fly into the hole. Climbing up to the nest, he found 
that in it were four young birds. Perching on a limb, 
he sat about four feet from the nest while I was in the 
boat perhaps ten feet away. The cock-bird flew up 
with a May-fly, making a soft alarm-note something 
like that made by a field sparrow, only gentler. He 
flew up close to where my friend sat and hesitated 
for a long while. Finally, the hungry little birds 
inside gave a prolonged squeak, which probably 
