OUR FAMILIAR BIRDS. 23 



enough to see that so rude a home would not be im- 

 proved by ornament. 



Most writers take the ground that the nest of this 

 species is covered with lichens in order to conceal it, 

 but it certainly cannot be urged in this case that it was 

 an attempt of the kind ; and may not these lichens be 

 used more for ornament than for concealment? The 

 bird is far from shy, is one of the most familiar deni- 

 zens of the grove, and seems to have no objection to a 

 spectator while it proceeds with its building and stuc- 

 coing. 



Until within a few years, according to good observers, 

 this was a shy, retiring bird, nesting only in secluded 

 woods ; but here it is, all at once, even more familiar 

 than its cousin, the common pewee, or Phoebe -bird. 

 Like the other fly -catchers, it takes its food on the 

 wing, and has a habit of returning to the same spot. 

 Noticing that it specially liked a clothes-line to light 

 upon, I kept one stretched all summer for its accommo- 

 dation. The line was a little higher than my head, and 

 I often stood quietly beneath it, when the bird would 

 alight very near me, and utter his prolonged, mournful 

 note, until a fly came within his range, when he would 

 dart away in pursuit, the snapping of his bill testifying 

 to his unerring aim. 



Burroughs, in his charming little book, " Wake Rob- 

 in," says it is an event in one's life to find a humming- 

 bird's nest. The event happened to me without any 

 effort on my part. Looking up from a seat in the 



