98 WOOD NOTES AND NEST HUNTING. 



der his outstretched wings for a troublesome para- 

 site. Now he darts off, flying fifty yards away in 

 a straight line, to gobble an insect which he sees 

 at that distance, not returning to his post, but to a 

 sycamore growing on the dam. This is the season 

 of incubation, and I suspect, considering the good 

 provider and kind husband that he is, that this 

 tid-bit just captured is for his consort. 



No one, without the aid of the bird, could ex- 

 pect to find such a nest. How nicely it is saddled 

 on the end of a horizontal bough, thirty feet from 

 the ground, so shallow that one can see, even at 

 this angle of vision, the head and back of the 

 female as she sits upon it. The couple did not 

 wander far for their building material, for the nest 

 is chiefly composed of mosses and thin plates of 

 old bark that cleave from the young growing liber, 

 so characteristic of the buttonwood, glued together 

 with saliva, which Nature has so bountifully sup- 

 plied to many of the birds. There she sits, evi- 

 dently not caring whether her nest or her presence 

 has been discovered. Her head moves about freely, 

 and once she cannot resist the temptation of flying 

 off to seize a passing insect, but returns immedi- 

 ately to her task. Here comes the male once more, 

 and standing close beside her gives a kiss and a 



