THE FAMILIAR BIRDS 



down to recover it, but failed in her attempt. The 

 following day I saw quite a mass* of white paper in 

 the tall elder-bush, but the nest made no further 

 progress, and the pair chose another site. I say the 

 pair, but in reality I think the female alone selects 

 the site. Her actions on such occasions seem much 

 the more purposeful and decided*. The male attends 

 her, but never, to my knowledge, lends a hand in 

 nest-building. When the young are out, he does his 

 stare in feeding them. 



I am at a loss to know why certain birds have 

 such a penchant for something white woven into, or 

 placed on the outside of, their nests. A robin will 

 reject bits of colored paper, but will often use strips 

 of white paper or white rags. One in the vines of a 

 near-by shed has made very free use of the cast-off 

 hair of our old gray horse, nearly white. A robin's 

 nest here in the summer-house has a long strip of 

 white silk paper. On a friend's house in a Michigan 

 city I saw more than a yard of candle-wick dangling 

 from an unfinished nest. Even the sly catbird likes a 

 bit of white paper in her nest. Nearly all the vireos 

 have a habit of sticking bits of white material on 

 the outside of their nests, usually the weavings of 

 cocoons of spiders. 



One day, high in the branches of an elm that 



shaded a village street, I saw a yellow-throated 



vireo at work on her nest. She was evidently 



in want of the white, felty bits of spiders' co- 



71 



