114. CHANGE OF HABITS OF SOME MAINE BIRDS. 
ends of board-wood and bark piles, and in fences. Where 
unmolested they learn to follow people hoeing in gardens, 
and pick up the worms just as chickens do; and where 
sprinklers are used on lawns, may often be seen directly 
under the falling drops, seeking for the worms which they 
have learned come to the surface for the moisture, as they 
do in rain-storms, Of late years, all along our coast, Fish- 
hawks, which formerly always nested in trees, have been 
forced by the trees in many places either being cut or blown 
down, to find other nesting sites, or abandon their old fishing- 
grounds. Some now build on roots of upturned trees; 
some on the ground; others on rocks; and I saw one pair 
building on the top of a derrick near an abandoned marble 
quarry. In some of these cases the material for building 
was changed, no sticks being used. One nest was composed 
wholly of kelp and sea-weed, and another of cedar bark, 
Formerly, Herring Gulls nested on the ground; now many 
of them along the seacoast nest in trees, while at our large 
inland lakes they build wholly on the ledges as formerly, 
making their nests of moss and grass. The reason of the 
change in their case is on account of their nests being so 
persistently robbed on the seashore. Not only the Herring 
Gulls, but also Bonaparte’s Gulls, and Terns, resort to our 
lakes to nest in larger numbers than formerly. Forty years 
ago, Ruffed Grouse fed largely on grasshoppers in August 
and early September. I have seen whole broods chasing 
them exactly as hens or turkeys do; but although I have 
examined many hundreds of their crops it has been a great 
many years since I have seen any trace of their having fed 
on these insects. This is the more remarkable, as grass- 
hoppers are the only kind of animal food which I have ever 
found in thecrops of Ruffed Grouse. They formerly resorted 
to the edges of fields and old roads in the fall to feed on 
clover leaves, their time for feeding being from four o’clock 
till dark. Now one is seldom seen doing this, but instead 
they may often be seen just after sunset, quietly sailing 
