54 LIFE HISTORIES OP NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



boughs in such a way as to form cozy little shelters, where the birds will be 

 pretty well concealed from view. I then gather up some old dry leaves and 

 grass and scatter it about on the ground near where I have prepared a place for 

 the nest. The bird pays no attention to this until she wants to lay. She will 

 then select one of these places, and, after scratching a deep cup- shaped place in 

 the ground, deposit in it her eggs. When the hen is on the nest she is contin- 

 ually making a kind of cooing sound, which I have never heard them make 

 on any other occasion. If there should be sufficient material within easy reach 

 of the nest the bird will sometimes cover the eggs up, but not in all cases. 



"No nesting material is taken to the nest until after three or four eggs are 

 laid. After this number has been deposited, the hen after laying an egg, and 

 while leaving the nest, will pick up straws, grass, and leaves, or whatever suit- 

 able material is at hand, and throw it backward over her back as she leaves the 

 nest, and by the time the set is complete, quite a quantity of this litter is collected 

 about the nest. She will then sit in her nest and reach out and gather in the 

 nesting material and place it about her, and when completed the nest is very 

 deep and nicely bordered with grass and leaves. 



"So strong is the habit, or instinct, of throwing the nesting materials over 

 the back, that they will frequently throw it away from the nest, instead of 

 toward it, as the hen will sometimes follow a trail of material that will turn her 

 'right about' so that her head is toward the nest, but all the time she will con- 

 tinue to throw what she picks up over her back. This, of course, is throwing 

 the material away from the nest. Discovering her mistake, she will then 'right 

 about face' and pick up the same material that an instant before was being 

 thrown away, and throw it over her back again toward the nest. 



"The way they will steal eggs from one another would do credit to a Lon- 

 don pickpocket. Two hens had their nests near together, perhaps 2 feet apart, 

 and as each hen laid every other day, one nest would be vacant while the other 

 would be occupied. The hen that laid last Avould not go away until she 

 had stolen the nest egg from the other nest and placed it in her own. I once 

 saw a hen attempt to steal an egg from another nest that was 20 feet away. 

 She worked faithfully at it for half an hour or more, but did not succeed in 

 moving the coveted egg more than about 8 feet, it being up hill. The egg so 

 frequently got away from her and rolled back a foot or more each time, that 

 she at last got disgusted, and gave up the task. I had no fear of getting the 

 sets mixed, as each was so different in color and shape from the other. 



"On going to the pen one evening I found one of the hens on the nest, and 

 I knew she was beginning to sit, as all the others had gone to roost. Slipping 

 my hand under her I found three eggs, the nest egg, the one just laid, and the 

 one stolen from the other nest. I picked two of them up and held them before 

 her, when she all at once placed her bill over the one held between my thumb 

 and forefinger, and tried to pull it out of my hand; I did not let her have it, 

 however, and she immediately stepped upon the side of the nest and placing 

 her bill over the remaining egg, drew it up out of the nest and pushed it back 



