134 WOOD NOTES AND NEST HUNTING. 



to the nearest bush where she flutters among the 

 leaves and climbs up the twigs like some huge 

 black-and-white moth. How expressive of the 

 severest anxiety and concern are all these move- 

 ments, and what distress and solicitude is told in 

 that single note ! Yet the greater part of this ado 

 is only fuss and feathers and consummate acting 

 — acting so true to life and full of feeling that it 

 often causes me while witnessing it, to move aside 

 to see if I have not already crushed her roof. The 

 drama, however, is soon played out, and the feath- 

 ered tragedian flies off the stage and hides herself 

 in the side scenes of the greenroom. Although 

 the search is long and diligent, the nest is still a 

 secret known only to the builders. The perform- 

 ance never appears twice in the same locality. If, 

 however, you chance to be within a few rods of it 

 the next day, the monodrame is again taken up 

 and rehearsed with the same spirit and passion as 

 before. Many of the ground-builders, and those 

 that make their nests in low places, display re- 

 markable skill and ingenuity in trying to deceive 

 and lead you astray. The towhee bunting is very 

 successful in doing this, and the golden crown pos- 

 sesses wonderful adroitness and cunning in hood- 

 winking intrusive visitors. 



