WOOD NOTES AND NEST HUNTING. IO5 



The cavity must be looked after and nicely turned 

 and pressed to fit her precious little body, so she gets 

 in and squats and turns round and round with out- 

 spread tail and wings, tucking in here and there, 

 and fastening with saliva the stray ends, and hug- 

 ging with her chin and bill the outside edges 

 against her breast. The delicate structure is pro- 

 gressing rapidly, and the female appears to be the 

 chief architect and worker. If the male comes, it 

 is only to flaunt himself before her and disappear. 

 These are evidently young birds, for on the occa- 

 sional visits of the male I notice the color is simi- 

 lar to his wife. His tail coverts and tail, however, 

 are darker with perhaps a deeper orange-red on 

 the sides of the breast ; he will have to wait a 

 year or two before he puts on the uniform of black 

 and red that older male birds wear. 



In a week the nest is finished ; the upper parts 

 are slightly drawn in and compactly thatched. 

 Now that the task is off her mind, she appears 

 more cautious, and uses many little devices ; flut- 

 tering among the lower branches or flying into 

 the farthest side of the tree and skulking up to 

 the nest, with the hope that her skillful maneuver- 

 ing has been successful in eluding my vigils. As 

 I approach the nest she utters a sharp Chip, chip. 



