156 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 
The thrushes build coarse but substantial nests; the 
wood thrushes and robins make the walls of moistened 
clay, lining them with soft, dried grass, so that they are 
very solid and comfortable structures ; to prevent these 
houses from filling with water during a heavy shower 
while the birds are absent, they wisely leave thin or 
open places near the bottom, through which the water 
can pass out. Several species of birds that nest before 
the leaves are out choose evergreens for their first 
brood, and if a second is raised it is generally in a 
deciduous bush or tree. Last spring the leaves were late 
in coming out, and of the first hundred nests that I 
examined, principally of robins and chipping birds, 
ninety of them were in evergreens; a month later the 
number was nearly reversed. 
The Baltimore oriole usually seeks the elm on which 
to hang its nest; the long, pendent branches allow the 
bird to build beyond the reach of most quadrupeds, so 
that probably a larger percentage of the young of these 
birds is raised than that of any other. 
Birds of the same species are partial to particular 
fabrics or materials to be used for building. 
Although the common wrens usually seek cavities in 
which to place the nest, yet sticks constitute a large 
portion of these curious domiciles, only the inside being 
lined with the softest and most delicate stuffs. The 
cat-bird also uses sticks for the main part of the struct- 
ure, and these seem to be selected with especial regard 
to color, being dark twigs corresponding nearly to the. 
color of the bird. This appears to be a general instinct 
