NATURE'S REALM. 7 
vided wee remain quiet after entering his 
haunts, has many interesting traits unobserved 
by those who idly pass. He is a veritable ac- 
robat, and will hang head downward and then 
assume the upright position without apparent 
effort. He rolls and circles around a twig 
much more easily than the most accomplished 
performer on a bar, and infinitely quicker. 
‘Our performer is so vivacious and erratic that 
it is impossible to tell what act this agile bird 
will do next as we watch his movements. 
Skipping from twig to twig, now flying from 
bush to bush, again hanging head downward 
from the end of a swaying branch, and ever 
uttering its vivacious notes, of which it has two 
series, it is ever pleasing to the eye and ear. 
Soon after arriving the birds may be seen chas- 
ing one another, and many are mated within 
a week after the arrival of the females, which 
appear a few days later than the males. The 
battles between the birds during the first half 
of May are very amusing, at least to the spec- 
tator. Itis fair to judge that new mates are 
chosen each season, although this is contrary 
to the theories of some observers of our song 
birds, who claim that birds of this class are 
constant. Atleast bird battles do occur among 
the yellow warblers, as with all our singers 
each season, as if at least to hold their claims 
good in the interest of old mates. 
After mating has taken place the pair look 
for a suitable nesting place, The nest is 
usually begun by May 15, but often earlier. 
Tbe nest is almost invariably placed in a bush. 
_ A wild rose is selected, alder, hazel, or, more 
rarely, a willoworthorn. Nests are occasionally 
taken in gardens and orchards, when an apple, 
plum tree or current bush is chosen. Nesting 
sites are, however, usually near the courses of 
streams. The structure is generally placed 
from four to ten feet high, rarely at a greater 
altitude. The net is an exceedingly neat affair 
and is rarely surpassed by the nests of any of 
our species—noted for artistic form and neat- 
ness. It is usually situated in a fork in asmall 
bush, and is so interlaced with the twigs form- 
ing its support as to be sometimes detached 
from its lodgment with great difficulty. The 
twigs bearing leaves usually at the time when 
the young appzar, look as if they grew through 
or from the nest, giving the structure an odd 
appearance. Externally the nest is composed 
of a substance resembling tow in consistence 
and of a grayish color when seen from a dis- 
tance. The material is tenacious and disposed 
in circular layers. The lining is composed of 
a variety of softer materials, among which is 
the downy portions of catkins, making a soft 
bed for the eggs. Occasionally a pink-colored 
cottony substance is added both outside and 
in. It is appropriated from the ferns and adds 
a pleasing variety in coloration to the nest. 
The summer yellow bird has a decided pe- 
culiarity in leaving its nest for some time after 
its completion and before laying its eggs. It 
is possible that the pair want to discover the 
nature of the neighbors, and are waiting to 
satisfy themselves of the desirability of the 
chosen site. Be that as it may, they often 
make a mistake, and, in their anxiety, fre- 
quently encounter difficulties from which they 
only extricate themselves at great pains. 
The cow bird, that socially low bird of most 
immoral views, is ever on the alert for a nest 
of the absent warbler, and, in her anxiety 
(cuckoo-like) to cast her offspring on to the 
fostering care of the poor overburdened house 
holders, not rarely overdoes the matter, and 
the eggs are deposited long before the rightful 
owner is ready to begin housekeeping, or de- 
posits their hopes of future posterity in too 
great numbers along with the eggs of the war- 
bler, much to the indignation of the legitimate 
property claimants. Perhaps no bird is so 
abused as the little yellow warbler by the now 
considered polygamous cow bird, and it is sate 
and agreeable to say that no species exhibits 
greater spirit or ingenuity in maintaining its 
rights and circumventing the would-be de- - 
spoiler of its home. The pair do not consider 
these immoral plebians as their neighbors, but 
view them as interlopers and social vampires, 
and will not vacate the premises, or at least 
but rarely, for the prospective aliens. With 
great determination the warblers begin a sec- 
ond nest directly above or literally on the first 
nest, and in a short time entirely cover the ob- 
jectionable egg or eggs of the detested cow 
bird, after which the eggs of the legitimate 
nest builders are deposited in the upper n 
