FIELD AND STUDY 



miles away. Our vision, under the circumstances, 

 would not distinguish the carcass of pig or dog 

 from any other small object on the ground. There 

 is speculation in the eye of the buzzard. It is a 

 great help to the eye to know what it is looking for. 

 But to return. Birds' nests may be found by 

 searching. Yesterday four of us — three young 

 women and myself — went out into the small or- 

 chard that holds the kingbird's nest, and by careful 

 scrutiny of each tree we found fiye other nests — 

 a red-eyed vireo's, a cedar-bird's, a goldfinch's, 

 a chippie's, and a song sparrow's. Song sparrows 

 are habitually ground birds, but they occasion- 

 ally take advantage of a tree. I had never before 

 seen one build a nest fifteen feet from the ground. 

 Evidently the little bird felt that its tree enemies 

 were less to be feared than its ground enemies. I had 

 had a glimpse a day or two before of one of its 

 ground enemies in the grass under the nest, in the 

 shape of a skunk. His approach was betrayed by 

 the trembling of the grass. I called "Halt!" to him, 

 when he stopped and worked his nose in my direc- 

 tion for a moment, then turned and with tail erect 

 ready for action, retraced his steps to the wood- 

 chuck-hole under the wall. Both by night and by 

 day these prowlers destroy many birds' nests. The 

 cedar-bird was the rarest find, and I had great pleas- 

 ure in observing the manners of the parent birds. 

 They made no outcry, but were the personification 

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